MoS Ajay Mishra Teni May Finally Be Ousted From Modi Cabinet

The much expected reshuffle in the Modi Cabinet may finally see the ouster of Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, the minister of state for Home Affairs who has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. 

According to sources in the BJP, ahead of the 2024 polls, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trying to keep any controversial faces out of his cabinet. And Teni, who is an MP from UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri, has been in the centre of a major controversy.  

Since October 2021, when his son Ashish Mishra drove a carcade that included an SUV and killed four farmers who were protesting in Lakhimpur Kheri, Teni has been making news for all the wrong reasons.

It may be recalled that the three farm laws, which were later overturned, sparked a protest by the farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri of Uttar Pradesh. The Supreme Court has prohibited Teni's son from entering UP even though he is now free on bail and accused of killing the four farmers.

Teni has been a prominent Brahmin face of the party, but the controversy saw a big chunk of the vote bank being affected. There was a constant demand for Teni’s removal but so far the PM had not taken any significant step. 

Teni himself has been accused in several criminal cases and according to party insiders, there was a constant pressure to remove him from the centre cabinet. While the insiders also hint that he may be denied a ticket in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, his ouster from the cabinet seems more to be confirmed. 

Former UP BJP chief Laxmi Kant Bajpai, who is a Rajya Sabha member is expected to replace Teni in the cabinet. One of the strongest Brahmin faces of the BJP, Bajpai has been MLA from Meerut but lost in the 2017 elections and was then sent to the Rajya Sabha by the party.  

Tarannum Manjul

BW Reporters Indian Journalist with over two decades of experience in TV and print, writing on politics, governance, lifestyle and more