Who will be next FM, Shah or Goyal?
Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first government has asked for a break citing health concerns. Both Amit Shah and Piyush Goyal are top contenders for the post of Finance Minister.
Jaitley has been the face of the economic policy reforms implemented by the Narendra Modi government in the past five year. He led the GST reforms, demonetisation program and divestment of public sector enterprises effectively during his tenure.
Almost all through his tenure as finance minister he has been battling heath issues. He had undergone a successful kidney transplant last year in May. Due to serious health concerns he had taken a break from his position as finance minister and Piyush Goyal was made interim finance minister. Goyal presented the last budget of the Modi government in February 2019. Goyal presently hold the important portfolio of Railways and Coal Ministry. Moving Goyal would also mean finding an effective alternative for these Ministries which are equally important for the economy.
As Jaitley opts out, market is rife with debates as to who will be the next finance minister in Modi Sarkar 2. Will it be the invincible Amit Shah or the competent Piyush Goyal? Going by the heirarchy of the swearing-in ceremony, Amit Shah is likely to replace Arun Jaitley has Finance Minister and might even replace Narendra Modi, in case such as situation arises.
The exact ministries of the newly sworn in leader are expected to be announced after market hours on Friday. Meanwhile, the benchmark indices were upbeat and at 11:10 hours on Friday, BSE Sensex was at 40,069.31, up by 237.34 points or 0.60 per cent and Nifty50 was at 12,021.85, up by 75.95 points or 0.64 per cent.