Cabinet Re-Jig Leads to Inclusion of More Ministers in the Modi Government

Cabinet Re-Jig Leads to Inclusion of More Ministers in the Modi Government

More ministers were included in the new government following a Cabinet expansion. Bandaru Dattatreya and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, former ministers from the Vajpayee government era as well as Mahesh Sharma, recently elected MP from Gautam Buddh Nagar near Delhi were sworn in as MoS (Independent Charge).

Around 14 other Ministers of State were sworn in including Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary, Sanwar Lal Jat, Ram Kripal Yadav, Hansraj Ahir, Ram Shankar Katheria, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Vijay Sampla as well as Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya Giriraj Singh, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Jayant Sinha, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Babul Supriyo, from BJP and Y S Chowdary, an RS member from TDP.

Former Shiv Sena leader and Power Minister in the Vajpayee government, Suresh Prabhu was also sworn in as a Cabinet minister along with senior BJP minister J. P. Nadda and Jat BJP leader from Haryana, Birender Singh who had joined BJP just before the Assembly elections. The swearing in ceremony was held at the Durbar room in the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Manohar Parrikar made it from IIT B to CM of Goa and finally Cabinet minister, following the expansion.

With the latest cabinet expansion, the strength of the Union CoM goes up to 66 from 45. From these, 27 ministers including the PM are Cabinet ranking ministers,
according to the Economic Times. 13 are Ministers of State with Independent Charge and India now has 26 Ministers of State.

Dignitaries and leaders present at the ceremony included PM Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Karzai, President Pranab Mukerjee, LS Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, RS Deputy Chairperson P. J. Kurien, senior BJP leader L. K. Advani, CMS of BJP states namely Vasundhara Raje, Manohar Lal Khattar and Raman Singh as reported by the ET. Andhra CM Chandababu Naidu was also present during the ceremony. None of the Congress leaders attended the ceremony, ET reported. Here is a list of the new ministers following the recent Cabinet expansion.

Cabinet Ministers

- Manohar Parrikar- Former CM of Goa, belongs to the BJP.
- Suresh Prabhu- Shiv Sena leader from Maharashtra
- J. P. Nadda- Himachal Pradesh minister from BJP.
- Birender Singh- BJP minister from Haryana

Ministers of State (Independent Charge)
- Bandaru Dattatreya-Telangana, BJP
- Rajiv Pratap Rudy- Bihar, BJP
- Mahesh Sharma- Uttar Pradesh, BJP
- Ministers of State
- Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi-Uttar Pradesh, BJP
- Ram Kripal Yadav- Bihar, BJP
- Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary- Gujarat, BJP
- Sanwar Lal Jat-Rajasthan, BJP
- Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya (Gujarat, BJP)
- Giriraj Singh-Bihar, BJP
- Hansraj Gangaram Ahir-Maharashtra, BJP
- Ram Shankar Katheria-Uttar Pradesh, BJP
- Y.S. Chowdary-Andhra Pradesh, TDP
- Jayant Sinha-Jharkhand, BJP
- Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore-Rajasthan, BJP
- Babul Supriyo-West Bengal, BJP
- Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti-Uttar Pradesh, BJP
- Vijay Sampla-Punjab, BJP