Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid a premium on performance in the 2021 Cabinet reshuffle. While 12 ministers were axed, seven junior ministers have been promoted as Cabinet ministers.
As many as 15 Cabinet ministers, including some new faces, were sworn-in at the swearing in ceremony held in the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. While 13 members took oath in Hindi, two took in English.
Rane, 69, a Rajya Sabha MP and a former Maharashtra chief minister, was the first to take oath.
After Rane, Sonowal, former Assam chief minister, took oath in English. The 58-year-old leader has earlier served as Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and Sports and Youth Affairs under Prime Minister Modi Congress-turned-BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, a Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, also took oath as a Cabinet minister. The 50-year-old leader has been Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and Union Minister of State for Commerce & Communications in the earlier UPA government.
Lok Sabha MP from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh Virendra Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha Ashwini Vaishnaw, Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar and JD(U) leader R C P Singh, Lok Sabha MP from Bihar's Hajipur Pashupati Kumar Paras, were also sworn-in as Cabinet ministers.
"I congratulate all the colleagues who have taken oath today and wish them the very best for their ministerial tenure. We will continue working to fulfil aspirations of the people and build a strong and prosperous India," said PM Modi on Twitter after the swearing-in ceremony while attaching a hashtag that said Govt4Growth.
28 ministers have been inducted as Ministers of State, including Meenakshi Lekhi, Pankaj Choudhary, Anupriya Patel, Shobha Karandlaje.
This is the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.
With this reset, Modi has brought in young faces and has also given representation to various social groups and regions in the reshuffle.
Minister of State in the Finance Ministry, Anurag Thakur, took oath as a Cabinet minister on Wednesday. MoS for Home, G. Kishan Reddy, and MoS for Agriculture, Parshottam Rupala, also got a promotion.
Hardeep Singh Puri, who was the Minister of State (independent charge) for Civil Aviation and Housing and Urban Affairs, has also been elevated. So has Kiren Rijiju who held independent charge for Youth Affairs and Sports.
Power Minister R.K. Singh, who held independent charge, and Mansukh Mandaviya, Shipping and Ports Minister with independent charge, have also been promoted. Gujarat will now get two additional Cabinet ministers in the form of Rupala and Mandaviya.
Before the massive reshuffle, several heavyweight ministers had resigned, while 43 new faces joined the government.
Twelve ministers have resigned from the Modi government, including Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar.
President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted their resignations, a statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
Among the senior ministers, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Chemical and Fertiliser Minister Sadananda Gowda and Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Gangwar have also resigned.
Meanwhile, Thawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, has been appointed as the Governor of Karnataka.
Here's the full list:
CABINET MINISTERS
* Narayan Tatu Rane
* Sarbananda Sonowal
* Dr Virendra Kumar
* Jyotiraditya Scindia
* Ramchandra Prasad Singh
* Ashwini Vaishnav
* Pashupati Kumar Paras
* Bhupendra Yadav
PROMOTED TO CABINET RANK
* Kiren Rijiju
* Hardeep Singh Puri
* Mansukh Mandaviya
* Raj Kumar Singh
* Parshottam Rupala
* G Kishan Reddy
* Anurag Thakur
INDUCTED AS MINISTERS OF STATE
* Pankaj Choudhary
* Anupriya Patel
* Satya Pal Singh Baghel
* Rajeev Chandrasekhar
* Shobha Karandlaje
* Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma
* Darshana Vikram Jardosh
* Meenakshi Lekhi
* Annpurna Devi
* A Narayanaswamy
* Kaushal Kishore
* Ajay Bhatt
* B L Verma
* Ajay Kumar
* Chauhan Devusinh
* Bhagwanth Khuba
* Kapil Moreshwar Patil
* Pratima Bhoumik
* Dr Subhas Sarkar
* Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad
* Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh
* Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar
* Bishweswar Tudu
* Shantanu Thakur
* Dr Munjapara Mahendrabhai
* John Barla
* Dr L Murugan
* Nisith Pramanik
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