PM Modi's Cabinet reshuffle: Piyush Goyal is new Railway Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman gets Defence

 BT Online   New Delhi     Last Updated: September 3, 2017  | 15:47 IST
PM Modi's Cabinet reshuffle: Piyush Goyal is new Railway Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman gets Defence

Nirmala Sitharaman will be the second woman Defence minister after Indira Gandhi. Suresh Prabhu has been given Commerce Ministry. Piyush Goyal gets Railways, replaces Suresh Prabhu.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought in nine new faces as Ministers. Today's rejig is the final big change in the Cabinet before 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal and Mukhtar Naqvi took oath as Cabinet Ministers.

Nine new men took oath as Ministers- Shiv Pratap Shukla, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Virendra Kumar, Anant kumar Hegde, Raj Kumar Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Satya Pal Singh and Alphons Kannanthanam.

 Watch oath taking ceremony live:

01.39 PM: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi- Minister of Minority Affairs

01.35 PM: Arun Jaitley- Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs

01.30 PM: RK Singh is MoS Independent Charge, Power.

01.29 PM: Alphons is MoS Independent Charge, Tourism. Alphons also gets Information and Technology.

01.27 PM:  Hardeep Puri is MoS Urban Development.

01.26 PM:  Dharmendra Pradhan gets skill development and petroleum

01.24 PM:  Uma Bharti gets drinking water and sanitation.

01.23 PM:  Nitin Gadkari- Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Minister of Shipping and Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

01.20 PM: Suresh Prabhu is Commerce Minister.

01.15 PM: Smriti Irani retains Information and Broadcasting Ministry. 

01.12 PM: Nirmala Sitharaman is the new Defence Minister

12.10 PM:Piyush Goyal gets Railways, Arun Jaitley keeps Finance

11.32 AM: Suresh Prabhu exits as Railway Minister

 

11.23 AM: Narendra Modi congratulates his colleagues

 11.04 AM: Swearing-in ceremony at Rashtapati Bhavan concludes

11.03 AM: Alphons Kannanthanam takes oath

11.01 AM: Satya Pal Singh takes oath as Mos

10:59 AM: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Hardeep Singh Puri takes oath as MoS

10.55 AM: Raj Kumar Singh takes oath as MoS

10.53 AM: Anant Kumar Hedge takes oath as MoS

10.51 AM: Dr. Virendra Kumar takes oath as MoS

10.49 AM: Ashwini Choubey takes oath as MoS

10.47 AM: Shiv Pratap Shukla takes oath as MoS

10.46 AM: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi takes oath as Cabinet Minister

10.44 AM:Nirmala Sitharaman takes oath

10.41 AM: Piyush Goyal takes oath as Cabinet Minister

10.39 AM: Dharmendra Pradhan takes oath as Cabinet Minister

10.37 AM: President Ram Nath Kovind arrives at Rashtapati Bhavan for the swearing in ceremony

10.31 AM:Venkaiah Naidu, Sumitra Mahajan reaches Rashtapati Bhavan for the oath taking ceremony

10. 28 AM: PM Modi arrives at Rashtapati Bhavan, sits next to Amit Shah

10.21 AM: Ministers have settled in

10:05 AM: Stage set for swearing in of ministers

10.00 AM: Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi reach Rashtrapati Bhavan for the oath taking ceremony.

10.00 AM: New Ministers arrive at Rashtapati Bhavan.

9:57 AM:KJ Alphons, BJP: Thrilled, I was not expecting this. Great surprise!

9.52 AM: Uma Bharti will be skipping today's oath taking ceremony, says she is out of town

9:30 AM: BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri says that he is grateful to the PM for making him a part of his team.

9:13 AM: Piyush Goyal likely to be the new Railways Minister: Sources

9:07 AM: Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi set to be promoted to cabinet rank: Sources

9:03 AM: BJP President Amit Shah has reached PM Narendra Modi's residence ahead of the swearing in ceremony of the Union Council ministers.

Today's Cabinet rejig comes days after Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu offered to quit following several train derailments and accident. Jaitley's planned trip to Japan as Defence Minister for a bilateral meeting with PM of Japan is expected to continue after the cabinet reshuffle.