Rajiv Pratap Rudy, minister of state skill development & entrepreneurship (Independent Charge), has resigned from the Union Cabinet.
Speculation is rife that Modi's Cabinet will undergo a reshuffle over the weekend.
The changes in the Union cabinet would reflect the expanding electoral clout of the coalition -- most recently Nitish Kumar dumped his Janata Dal-Uniteds alliance partner Lalu Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and returned the BJP to power in the key state of Bihar.
The expansion of the council of ministers is also due because of the vacancies that have been created due to the sudden demise of environment minister Anil Madhav Dave and the return of former defence minister Manohar Parrikar to Goa state politics. The election of M Venkaiah Naidu as vice-president also deprived the cabinet of a key minister.
Senior leaders of the BJP point out that this would be the third cabinet reshuffle of the NDA and possibly the last before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.