The long anticipated reshuffle and expansion of the Union Cabinet will take place at Rashtrapati Bhawan today at 6 p.m. This will be the first reshuffle in his Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.
Ahead of the Union Cabinet expansion, ministerial probables met the Prime Minister at his residence.
Those who met Mr. Modi included the 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, the JD-U's R.CP. Singh, the LJP's Pashupati Paras and the Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel.
Some Ministers of State, including G. Kishan Reddy, Parshottam Rupala and Anurag Thakur, were also there, and they may be elevated, the sources said.
43 persons, including those getting a promotion, will take oath, and they will be a mix of youth and those with administrative experience, including former Chief Ministers.
Here are the updates:
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar quit
Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar are among those Council of Ministers who quit on Wednesday evening ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle.
According to a communique from Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, accepted the resignation of the following members of the Council of Ministers, with immediate effect.
1. D.V. Sadananda Gowda
2. Ravi Shankar Prasad
3. Thaawarchand Gehlot
4. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’
5. Dr. Harsh Vardhan
6. Prakash Javadekar
7. Santosh Kumar Gangwar
8. Babul Supriyo
9. Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao
10. Rattan Lal Kataria
11. Pratap Chandra Sarangi
12. Sushri Debasree Chaudhuri
List of Ministers who will take oath:
1. Narayan Tatu Rane; 2. Sarbananda Sonowal; 3. Dr. Virendra Kumar; 4. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia 5. Ramchandra Prasad Singh; 6. Ashwini Vaishnaw; 7. Pashu Pati Kumar Paras; 8. Kiren Rijiju 9. Raj Kumar Singh; 10. Hardeep Singh Puri; 11. Mansukh Mandaviya; 12. Bhupender Yadav; 13. Parshottam Rupala; 14. G. Kishan Reddy; 15. Anurag Singh Thakur; 16. Pankaj Choudhary; 17. Anupriya Singh Patel; 18. Dr. Satya Pal Singh Baghel; 19. Rajeev Chandrasekhar; 20. Shobha Karandlaje; 21. Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma; 22. Darshana Vikram Jardosh; 23. Meenakashi Lekhi; 24. Annpurna Devi; 25. A. Narayanaswamy; 26. Kaushal Kishore; 27. Ajay Bhatt; 28. B. L. Verma; 29. Ajay Kumar; 30. Chauhan Devusinh; 31. Bhagwanth Khuba; 32. Kapil Moreshwar Patil; 33. Pratima Bhoumik; 34. Dr. Subhas Sarkar; 35. Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad; 36. Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh; 37. Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar; 38. Bishweswar Tudu; 39. Shantanu Thakur; 40.Dr. Munjapara Mahendrabhai; 41. John Barla; 42. Dr. L. Murugan; and 43. Nisith Pramanik.
Babul Supriyo resigns as Union Minister
Ahead of a major Cabinet reshuffle, Union Minister of State for Environment Babul Supriyo resigned from the Union Council of Ministers on Wednesday.
Supriyo confirmed his resignation through a post on social media, "I have been asked to resign and I have." "I thank Prime Minister for giving me the privilege to serve my country as a Member of his Council of Ministers,” he posted on his Facebook account. — PTI
Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar resigns
Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar has resigned from the Union Cabinet ahead of the scheduled Cabinet reshuffle this evening.
Mr. Gangwar, who held the position of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment resigned from his post early this morning.
When asked whether he has resigned from the post of Labour Minister, Mr. Gangwar answered in the affirmative. "Yes I have resigned," he told PTI.
He, however, said he is not aware what his new role in the government will be. — PTI
Harsh Vardhan resigns as Union Health Minister ahead of Cabinet reshuffle
With the much anticipated expansion of Narendra Modi government's cabinet is scheduled to be held at 6 pm on Wednesday, several ministers, including three seniors, have tendered their resignations to pave way for new faces.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has tendered his resignation.
Sadananda Gowda resigns as Union Minister
Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on July 7 resigned from the Union Council of Ministers.
Mr. Gowda confirmed his decision to step down.
Besides being the Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister in the Narendra Modi government, Mr. Gowda has also held portfolios like Railways, Law, Statistics and Programme Implementation.
His resignation comes ahead of the expansion of the Union Cabinet scheduled this evening. — PTI
Pokhriyal, Dhotre resign from Union Cabinet
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' and Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre resigned from the Union Cabinet on July 7, according to sources.
Mr. Pokhriyal, who tested positive for COVID-19 on April 21, was admitted to AIIMS in June again following post COVID-19 complications. He has resigned from his post citing health reasons.
The former Uttarakhand Chief Minister took charge as the HRD Minister in May 2019. Mr. Dhotre, who represents Akola constituency of Maharashtra also took charge as MoS for Education, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology, in May 2019.
Their resignations comes ahead of the expansion of the Union Cabinet scheduled this evening. — PTI
Official residence of PM Modi is abuzz with activity
The long anticipated expansion of the Union Cabinet is set to happen at 6 pm on Wednesday, according to the Prime Minister's Office. No 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, the official residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is abuzz with activity with a number of BJP leaders getting calls confirming their Cabinet berth.
Former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia whose switch to BJP led to the fall of Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh is likely to be made as a Cabinet Minister. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane, former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, BJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupendra Yadav, and Uttar Pradesh BJP Vice President B L Verma are among those who received a call.
Many women members to be inducted
A number of women members will also be inducted to the Cabinet. This includes Karnataka MP Shobha Karandalaje, Sirsa MP Sunita Duggar, Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi, and Maharashtra MPs Hina Gavit and Pritam Munde.
The expanded Cabinet will also include BJP allies namely Janata Dal (U) national president and Rajya Sabha MP R.C.P. Singh and Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel.
Lok Sabha Members Kapil Patil (Maharashtra), Ajay Bhatt (Uttarakhand) and Shantanu Thakur (West Bengal) will also be included in the Council of Ministers.
Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha and former bureaucrat Ashwini Vaishnaw will also be made a Minister.
Chirag Paswan bristles at possible Cabinet entry for Pasupati Paras
After embarking on his Aashirwad yatra from Hajipur on July 5, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader and MP Chirag Paswan on Tuesday said he would go to court if his uncle and expelled party leader Pashupati Kumar Paras was inducted into the Union Cabinet.
Amid Cabinet reshuffle buzz, eight States get new Governors
Ahead of a much anticipated Cabinet reshuffle at the Centre, Rashtrapati Bhawan has announced a slew of gubernatorial appointments, including that of Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawarchand Gehlot as Governor of Karnataka, replacing Vajubhai Vala. This was the surest sign that a Cabinet reshuffle, regularly postponed since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, will finally come to pass as early as Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.
Apart from Mr. Gehlot, among the fresh appointees are former MP and former BJP president of the erstwhile combined State of Andhra Pradesh K Hari Babu as Governor of Mizoram, senior BJP leader and former Tribal Affairs Minister in Gujarat Mangubhai Patel as Governor of Madhya Pradesh and former Speaker of the Goa Assembly Rajendra Arlekar as Himachal Pradesh Governor. Mr. Arlekar is the first Goankar to be made Governor in the State’s history.
(With inputs from Correspondents and Agencies)