With the BJP naming Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar as the new Goa Chief Minister and some other Union ministers being hinted as front-runners for the top job in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi might soon be needing new members in his ministerial council.

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday announced that Parrikar will be Chief Minister in a BJP-led government in Goa.

“The Defence Minister will resign before he takes oath as the new Goa Chief Minister,” Gadkari told reporters in Panaji after Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, led by Parrikar, met Goa Governor Mridula Sinha to stake claim to forming the new government in the coastal state.

There are also speculations that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha and Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma were being considered for the chief ministerial post in Uttar Pradesh.

If one of them is chosen to head the new government in Uttar Pradesh, then it will cause another vacancy in the Union Council of Ministers.