The Narendra Modi government underwent a major overhaul and cabinet expansion with 43 leaders swearing-in as new ministers of the Modi government at 6 pm on Wednesday. The list of leaders also included some former chief ministers.
President Ram Nath Kovind administering the oath of office and secrecy to members of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a group photograph with 43 ministers who took oath, at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on Wednesday. ANI
Ahead of the expansion, the then candidates met PM Modi at his residence. BJP’s Narayan Rane, Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Bhatt, Bhupender Yadav, Shobha Karandlaje, Sunita Duggal, Meenakshi Lekhi, Bharati Pawar, Shantanu Thakur and Kapil Patil, R C P Singh, Pashupati Paras and Anupriya Patel met him.
Anurag Thakur, Kiren Rijiju, Parshottam Rupala, RK Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, and Mansukh L Mandaviya have been promoted. Thakur, son of former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, has been elected to Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur constituency four times since 2008. Rijiju, the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, previously served as Minister of State for Home Affairs. He has been a Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal West since 2014. Rupala was the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. He has been a Rajya Sabha member since 2016. Singh was a minister of state in the power ministry who contested and won from Bihar’s Arrah in 2014. Puri was elected unopposed in a bypoll to a Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh in 2018 after the seat fell vacant following the resignation of Manohar Parrikar. He was the Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation (Independent Charge). In 2019, Mandaviya took charge of the Shipping Ministry Friday as Minister of State (Independent Charge). He was Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways; Chemical and Fertilisers and Shipping in the previous Narendra Modi-led government.
JDU MP RCP Singh took oath as Union Cabinet Minister. LJP’s MP Paras also became a Minister in PM Modi’s cabinet. Patel, who took oath as a Union Minister, is the national president of the Apna Dal. She is from the Kurmi community. She was appointed a Minister of State in the previous Modi government. The new faces from BJP are: Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal, Virendra Kumar Khatik, Bhupender Yadav, Pankaj Chaudhary, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi, Annapurna Devi Yadav, A Narayanswamy, Kaushal Kishore, Ajay Bhatt, Ajay Kumar, Devusinh Jesingbhai Chauhan, Shobha Karandlaje, Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, RK Ranjan Singh, Bishweswar Tudu, Mahendra Munjapara, Mahendra Munjapara, L Murugan, Narayan Rane, Kapil Patil, Ashwini Vaishnaw, G Kishan Reddy, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, BL Verma, Nishith Pramanik,Pratima Bhoumik, Bharti Pawar, Bhagwanth Khuba, SP Singh Baghel, Subhas Sarkar, andJohn Barla.
HARDEEP SINGH PURI
Hardeep Singh Puri took oath as a Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs. He was earlier the Housing and Urban Affairs (Independent Charge) Minister and Civil Aviation (Independent Charge) Minister.
ANUPRIYA PATEL
Anupriya Patel, who took oath as Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is the national president of the Apna Dal. She was appointed a Minister of State in the previous Modi government. She is the daughter of Sone Lal Patel, a prominent Kurmi caste leader.
MANSUKH MANDAVIYA
Mansukh Mandaviya is the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, and Chemicals and Fertilisers. In 2019, he took charge of the Shipping Ministry as Minister of State (Independent Charge). He was Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways; Chemical and Fertilisers and Shipping in the previous Modi government.
PARSHOTTAM RUPALA
Parshottam Rupala is Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. He has been a Rajya Sabha member since 2016.
JOHN BARLA
John Barla is the Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs. A tribal leader from West Bengal, the Alipurduar MP has been in the news lately for demanding a separate UT be carved out of north Bengal.
RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR
Rajeev Chandrasekhar is Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The three-time Rajya Sabha member was previously an Independent MP representing Karnataka in the Upper House.
NARAYAN RANE
Narayan Rane is Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Having spent the better part of his political career in the Shiv Sena, Rane has come a long way after he joined hands with the BJP and became a Union Minister.
R.C.P. SINGH
JD-U MP R.C.P. Singh took oath as Minister of Steel. He is the party’s national president and a member of the Rajya Sabha from Bihar.
PASHUPATI KUMAR PARAS
LJP’s MP Pashupati Kumar Paras also became a Minister in PM Modi’s Cabinet. He is Minister of Food Processing Industries. Ram Vilas Paswan’s brotherrecently staged a political coup and deposed nephew Chirag Paswan to become the party chief.
JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA
Credited with re-acquiring a lost state for the BJP through his rebellion, Scindia is Minister of Civil Aviation.
ASHWINI VAISHNAW
The 51-year-old is Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT.
KIREN RIJIJU
Rijiju has been elevated to the Cabinet minister rank and given the charge of the Ministry of Law & Justice. He had been serving as the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and MoS for Minority Affairs and Ayush portfolios.
SARBANANDA SONOWAL
The former Assam CM is Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; Minister of AYUSH.
BHUPENDER YADAV
Considered a close aide of Home Minister Amit Shah, Bhupender Yadav is Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of Labour and Employment.
G. KISHAN REDDY
G. Kishan Reddy is Minister of Culture; Minister of Tourism; and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region.
ANURAG THAKUR
Anurag Thakur, son of former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, is I&B Minister; and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports.PROMINENT FACES
HARDEEP SINGH PURI
Hardeep Singh Puri took oath as a Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs. He was earlier the Housing and Urban Affairs (Independent Charge) Minister and Civil Aviation (Independent Charge) Minister.
ANUPRIYA PATEL
Anupriya Patel, who took oath as Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is the national president of the Apna Dal. She was appointed a Minister of State in the previous Modi government. She is the daughter of Sone Lal Patel, a prominent Kurmi caste leader.
MANSUKH MANDAVIYA
Mansukh Mandaviya is the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, and Chemicals and Fertilisers. In 2019, he took charge of the Shipping Ministry as Minister of State (Independent Charge). He was Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways; Chemical and Fertilisers and Shipping in the previous Modi government.
PARSHOTTAM RUPALA
Parshottam Rupala is Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. He has been a Rajya Sabha member since 2016.
JOHN BARLA
John Barla is the Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs. A tribal leader from West Bengal, the Alipurduar MP has been in the news lately for demanding a separate UT be carved out of north Bengal.
RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR
Rajeev Chandrasekhar is Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The three-time Rajya Sabha member was previously an Independent MP representing Karnataka in the Upper House.
NARAYAN RANE
Narayan Rane is Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Having spent the better part of his political career in the Shiv Sena, Rane has come a long way after he joined hands with the BJP and became a Union Minister.
R.C.P. SINGH
JD-U MP R.C.P. Singh took oath as Minister of Steel. He is the party’s national president and a member of the Rajya Sabha from Bihar.
PASHUPATI KUMAR PARAS
LJP’s MP Pashupati Kumar Paras also became a Minister in PM Modi’s Cabinet. He is Minister of Food Processing Industries. Ram Vilas Paswan’s brotherrecently staged a political coup and deposed nephew Chirag Paswan to become the party chief.
JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA
Credited with re-acquiring a lost state for the BJP through his rebellion, Scindia is Minister of Civil Aviation.
ASHWINI VAISHNAW
The 51-year-old is Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT.
KIREN RIJIJU
Rijiju has been elevated to the Cabinet minister rank and given the charge of the Ministry of Law & Justice. He had been serving as the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and MoS for Minority Affairs and Ayush portfolios.
SARBANANDA SONOWAL
The former Assam CM is Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; Minister of AYUSH.
BHUPENDER YADAV
Considered a close aide of Home Minister Amit Shah, Bhupender Yadav is Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of Labour and Employment.
G. KISHAN REDDY
G. Kishan Reddy is Minister of Culture; Minister of Tourism; and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region.
ANURAG THAKUR
Anurag Thakur, son of former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, is I&B Minister; and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports.