Cabinet Expansion HGHLIGHTS: Aswhini Vaishnav Gets Railways, Anurag Thakur I&B, Dharmendra Pradhan Education
PM Modi Cabinet Expansion HIGHLIGHTS: Modi government 2.0 has inducted as many as 43 new faces in his Union Cabinet today. The oath-taking ceremony took place at around 6 PM in Delhi Darbar Hall.
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Background
PM Modi Cabinet Expansion HIGHLIGHTS: A major reshuffle of the Union council of ministers is on the card. After days of speculations, it is being confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet will be expanded Today evening. The oath taking ceremony will take place at about 6 PM.
This will be the first cabinet expansion in Modi's government after he came back to power for the second time in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. It is believed that 43 leaders will take oath as Union Ministers in the Union Cabinet expansion, to be held later today.
In the expansion of the cabinet, preference will be given to the experience of governance and system. Attention will be paid to sub-regional claims within bigger states like UP, Maharashtra, Gujarat or Karnataka.
Along with this, the emphasis will be on the selection of youth leaders for the cabinet. It is speculated that the new cabinet will be the youngest Council Of Ministers, India has had until now. Young leaders with professional education like MBA post-graduation may be included in the new cabinet. Apart from this, the percentage of the representation of women will be increased.
The smallest communities will be given a chance to be represented, including Yadavs, Kurmis, Jats, Kahrs, Pasi, Koris, and Lodhis. Two dozen OBC or backward class ministers will be in the cabinet after this expansion. The representation of scheduled castes will be the highest among the governments so far.
Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman Retain Their Ministries
Sarbananda Sonowal Gets Ayush Ministry
Former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal gets Ayush Ministry. Meanwhile, former Indian bureaucrat and BJP MP from Lok Sabha RK Singh gets Law Ministry.
Piyush Goyal Gets Ministry Of Textiles
Piyush Goyal will handle the Ministry of Textiles in addition to the Ministries of Commerce and Industry. This will again bring in synergies between ministries that are export-oriented, deal with trade policy and are among the biggest employment generating ministries.
He also has Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
Aswhini Vaishnav Appointed As Union Railways Minister
Aswhini Vaishnav brings with him rich administrative experience that will come handy as he is assigned the important portfolio of the Ministry of IT and Communications. He also got the Railways.
Railways is another priority sector for PM Modi.
Railways and IT are being clubbed to ensure effective Tech usage in railways for passenger safety and convenience.
Piyush Goyal, Pashupati Paras, Meenakshi Lekhi Gets Portfolio
Piyush Goyal to keep Ministry of Commerce, in addition to Ministry of Textile and Ministry of Consumer Welfare.
LJP Leader and Chirag Paswan's uncle Pashupati Paras gets the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. Anurag Thakur to become I&B Minister and has been handed over additional charge of Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs.
Meenakshi Lekhi named MoS External Affairs Ministry.