Santosh Gangwar, Ramesh Pokhriyal and Sanjay Dhotre resign ahead of union cabinet reshuffle

NEW DELHI: Labour minister Santosh Gangwar has resigned from the Union Cabinet ahead of the scheduled Cabinet reshuffle this evening along with Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', the latter citing health reasons, according to sources.

Gangwar, who held the position of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment resigned from his post early this morning along with MoS Education Sanjay Dhotre. Dhotre, who represents Akola constituency of Maharashtra also took charge as MoS for Education, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology, in May 2019.

When asked whether he has resigned from the post of Labour Minister, Gangwar answered in the affirmative. "Yes I have resigned," he said. He, however, said he is not aware of what his new role in the government will be.

#Breaking: @drharshvardhan resigns. India to get new health minister.@NewIndianXpress

— Sumi Dutta (@SumiSukanya) July 7, 2021

Pokhriyal, who tested positive for COVID-19 on April 21, was admitted to AIIMS in June again following post Covid complications. The former Uttarakhand chief minister took charge as the HRD Minister in May 2019. His resignation comes ahead of the expansion of the Union Cabinet scheduled this evening.

Minister of State for Women and Child Development Ministry Debasree Chaudhuri also resigned from the Union Cabinet. Chaudhuri submitted her resignation this morning, one of her close aides said. Chaudhuri was elected to the Lok Sabha from West Bengal's Raiganj constituency in the 2019 general elections.

This will be the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.The Prime Minister is expected to bring in young faces and give representation to various social groups and regions in the reshuffle.