Modi Cabinet revamped; 43 young leaders from diverse background take oath in new cabinet

The most talked-about and much-awaited Union Cabinet expansion led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, culminated on Wednesday, July 7 at Rashtrapati Bhawan. The oath swearing which began at 6 PM on Wednesday after the national anthem saw several new faces being inducted into the cabinet. Apart from PM Modi, the ceremony was graced by Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, First Lady Savita Devi Kovind among others, as President Ram Nath Kovind was facilitating the swearing-in ceremony.  Several leaders who are already serving as Union Ministers were also a part of the swearing-in ceremony. The ceremony was conducted in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols.

Union Ministers Harsh Vardhan, Santosh Gangwar, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Ramesh Nishank Pokhriyal, Sanjay Dhotre, Raosaheb Danve, Sadanand Gowda, Ashwini Choubey and Debasree Chaudhuri have been dropped. Union Ministers Anurag Thakur, G Kishan Reddy, Harsh Vardhan, Kiren Rijuju and Parshottam Rupala were elevated to Cabinet rank.

The new Council of Ministers has more representation in terms of caste, religion, region, and experience than several other governments in the past. 11 women Ministers (2 in Cabinet), 27 OBCs (5 in cabinet), 8 STs (3 in Cabinet), and 12 SC members (2 in cabinet) have been made a part of the new Council of Ministers. Moreover, 13 lawyers, 6 doctors, 5 engineers, 7 civil servants, and 4 former CMs have also been a made part of the new Council of Ministers.

Swearing-in ceremony

Rajya Sabha MP Narayan Rane, who has earlier served as CM of Maharashtra was the first to take oath as minister in the revamped Modi cabinet. Second to take the oath was Sarbananda Sonowal, erstwhile CM of Assam and also former union minister for Sports and Youth Affairs (2014-2016), sworn in as cabinet minister in the revamped Modi cabinet.

Dr Virendra Kumar, Lok Sabha MP from Trikamgarh, was the third to take oath as a minister in the new cabinet. Followed by Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Congress leader who switched to BJP last year, due to which BJP came back to power in Madhya Pradesh. 

Next in line was Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar and JD(U) National President, Ramchandra Prasad Singh, followed by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha. Vaishnaw is an IAS officer who has also done his MBA from the USA and MTech from IIT Kanpur. He has also held leadership roles in major global companies such as General Electric and Siemens. Pashupati Kumar Paras, brother and confidante of Late Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and the estranged uncle of LJP President Chirag Paswan. He is a Lok Sabha MP from Hajipur in Bihar.

Others who took oath were:

• Kiren Rijiju - served as MoS of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, MoS in the Ministry of Minority Affairs of India
• Raj Kumar Singh - served as MoS Power, Renewable Energy, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
• Hardeep Singh Puri - served as Union Aviation Minister and Minister of Housing
• Mansukh Mandaviya - served as MoS for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, MoS Chemical and Fertilizers
• Bhupender Yadav - served as National General Secretary of the BJP
• Parshottam Rupala - served as MoS Panchayati Raj, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
• G Kishan Reddy - served as MoS Home Affairs
• Anurag Thakur - served as MoS Finance
• Pankaj Choudhary - Lok Sabha MP from Maharajganj, UP
• Anupriya Patel - Apna Dal(S) leader and Lok Sabha MP from Mirzapur, UP
• SP Singh Baghel - Lok Sabha MP from Agra, UP
• Rajeev Chandrasekhar - Rajya Sabha MP and member of various central committees, BJP spokesperson
• Shobha Karandlaje - Lok Sabha MP from Udupi Chikmagalur, Karnataka
• Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma - Lok Sabha MP from Jalaun, UP
• Darshana Vikram Jardosh - Lok Sabha MP from Surat, Gujarat
• Meenakshi Lekhi - Lok Sabha MP from New Delhi
• Annapurna Devi - Lok Sabha MP from Kodarma, Jharkhand
•  A. Narayanaswamy - Lok Sabha MP from Chitradurga
• Kaushal Kishore - Lok Sabha MP from Mohan Lalganj, UP
•  Ajay Bhatt - Lok Sabha MP from Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand and state president of BJP
• B. L. Verma- Rajya Sabha MP and state vice president of BJP in Uttar Pradesh
• Ajay Kumar - Lok Sabha MP from Kheri, UP
• Chauhan Devusinh - Lok Sabha MP from Kheda, Gujarat
• Bhagwanth Khuba - Lok Sabha MP from Bidar, Karnataka
• Kapil Moreshwar Patil - Lok Sabha MP from Bhiwandi
• Pratima Bhoumik - Lok Sabha MP from Tripura
• Dr Subhas Sarkar - Lok Sabha MP from Bankura, West Bengal
• Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad - Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra
• Rajkumar Ranjan Singh - Lok Sabha MP from Manipur
• Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar - Lok Sabha MP from Dindori, Maharashtra
• Bishweswar Tudu - Lok Sabha MP from Mayurbhanj, Odisha 
• Shantanu Thakur - Lok Sabha MP from Bangaon, West Bengal
• Dr Munjapara Mahendrabhai - Lok Sabha MP from Surendranagar, Gujarat
• John Barla - Lok Sabha MP from Alipurduar, West Bengal
• Dr L. Murugan - A Madras High Court Lawyer and Vice Chairman of National Commission of Scheduled Castes (2017-2020)
• Nisith Pramanik - Lok Sabha MP for Cooch Behar, West Bengal