New Cabinet: Team Modi to have 43 new names

The list of 43 leaders who are all set to take oath today as Union Cabinet Ministers is out. The total strength of the Ministry is 77. Of them, only four are from BJP’s allies. The rest are from the BJP itself. 

Jyotiraditya Scindia (former Congress leader who joined the BJP last year), Pashupati Kumar Paras, Bhupender Yadav, Anupriya Patel, Shobha Karandlaje, Meenakshi Lekhi, Ajay Bhatt, and Anurag Thakur have been inducted. Sarbananda Sonowal, the former Assam CM, is also in the list. 

Telangana leader G Kishan Reddy has reportedly got a promotion from the Minister of State to the highest rank. It’s a promotion for the Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri as well. 

Earlier today, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan resigned, so also other well-known names such as Babul Supriyo, Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Santosh Gangwar, Sanjay Dhotre, Debasree Chaudhuri, Ratan Lal Kataria, Sadananda Gowda, Thawarchand Gehlot, Pratap Sarangi and Rao Saheb Dhanve Patil, too, have been shown the door. 

Meanwhile, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that Dalits and Backward Caste leaders have been elevated to the Ministerships with an eye on the elections. He said that Narendra Modi has no interest in the welfare of backward communities and that the induction of the leaders is a diversionary tactic.