NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted on Tuesday former journalist M.J. Akbar into his Council of Ministers following a cabinet reshuffle, reports said.

They said Mr Modi expanded his cabinet with 17 new faces that focused on a caste and religious arithmetic to suit crucial state elections ahead, including the politically vital Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Akbar, who was inducted as minister of state, joined the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014 and was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh.

The portfolios for the new cabinet members are yet to be announced, but speculation is rife that Mr Akbar could find a useful slot either in the information or the external affairs ministry. He became Congress MP in 1989 after winning a Lok Sabha seat from Bihar in an election that the Congress, led by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, otherwise lost.

The Council of Ministers now has 77 members. The previous strength of the government was 63. Five ministers of state tendered their resignation on Tuesday, leaving 58 ministers in the earlier batch.

Reuters adds: The cabinet expansion drew criticism that Mr Modi was backtracking on a promise of lean government.

A top government source said Mr Modi had dropped five of his cabinet colleagues.

The size of the cabinet is one of the biggest in years and a far cry from Mr Modi’s 2014 election promise of “minimum government and maximum governance”.

“If this was a reform-minded government, you would be reducing the numbers of people and portfolios, shedding ministries,” said Manoj Joshi, a political expert at Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

“What you can read from this is that it is not particularly efficient or concerned about governance,” Joshi said, referring to Mr Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Mr Modi swept to power in May 2014 on a promise of jobs and growth. However, critics have questioned his government’s performance and political analysts say the ruling party suffers from a shortage of experienced members.

A number of new ministers hail from India’s backward castes, members of which are widely expected to play a critical role in an election in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh next year.

That state election is likely to have a bearing on Mr Modi’s bid to retain power in a general election, due by 2019.

“His eyes are set on his re-election in 2019,” said Neerja Chowdhury, an independent political analyst. “He has given representation to the social groups that voted for him in the last general election.”

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2016