New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted many new faces as he expanded his Council of Ministers on Tuesday in a gala ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. As per reports, in today’s Cabinet expansion nearly half a dozen ministers are likely to be inducted from Uttar Pradesh which goes to polls in 2017.
If government sources are to be believed, some of the 19 new ministers are expected to get Independent charge. BJP ally Shiv Sena, which has also been a vocal critic of the Narendra Modi government, will boycott today’s cabinet expansion alleging that it was not consulted over the same. However, news agency ANI later reported that Shiv Sena MP and Union Minister Anant Geete will attend the oath-taking ceremony of newly inducted Ministers in Cabinet.
Here are the LIVE updates:-
-Oath ceremony concludes.
-Dr Subhash Ramrao Bhamre takes oath as the Minister of state at the President’s House in Delhi
-CR Chaudhary sworn in as the Minister of State.
-Mirzapur MP Anupriya patel takes oath as Minister of State.
-Mansukh Mandaviya takes oath as the Minister of State.
-Krishna Raj sworn in as the Minister of State at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi
-Ajay Tamta sworn in as the Minister of state at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi
-Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey takes oath as the Minister of State.
-Jaswant Singh Bhabhor takes oath as Minister at the President’s House in Delhi
-Arjun Ram Meghwal takes oath as the Minister of State at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi
-M. J. Akbar takes oath as the Minister of State at the President’s House in Delhi
-Parsottambhai Rupala sworn in as the Minister of State at the President’s House in Delhi.
-Anil Madhav Dave sworn in as the Minister of State in presence of President Pranab Mukherjee.
-Rajen Gohain takes oath as the Minister of State at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.
-Ramdas Athawale takes oath as Minister at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.
-Vijay Goel sworn in as the Minister of state at the President’s House in Delhi.
-Ramesh Jigajinagi takes oath as Minister in presence of President Pranab Mukherjee
-SS Ahluwalia takes oath as Minister at the President’s House in Delhi
-Fagan Singh Khulaste takes oath as Cabinet Minister at the President’s House
-Prakash Javadekar takes oath as a Minister of Cabinet.
-Visuals of oath taking ceremony from President’s House,Newly inducted Mins to take oath shortly.
-PM Modi at the oath taking ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, greets Vice President Hamid Ansari, his party colleagues.
-Arjun Ram Meghwal left for President’s House on a cycle, to be inducted in Cabinet today.
-Amit Shah ji has asked me to work with him for the party, I told him, “his wish is my command”: Ram S Katheria, BJP
-PM Modi & Amit Shah have given responsibility to new people, I welcome them: Ram Shankar Katheria, BJP.
-Mansukh Mandaviya and Arjun Meghwal leave for President’s House on a cycle, will be inducted in Union Cabinet today.
-Proud. Aim to fulfil BRAmbedkar’s dream of upliftment of Dalits & poor: Ramdas Athawale (RS MP, Maharashtra)
-Will be inducted in Cabinet for the 1st time under PM Modi, matter of pride and honour for me: P Rupala (RS MP, Gujarat)
-It’s big responsibility,will try to live upto the expectation of people: Rajen Gohain (MP, Nagaon, Assam)
-I am proud that I will be a part of the development vision of PM Modi: Mansukh L Mandaviya
-Have received letter stating that I’ll be inducted in Modi ji’s Cabinet. Very happy: PP Choudhary
-Our priority would be to work for the people and address key issues related to farmers: FS Kulaste
-Whatever responsibility I get,will fulfil it to best of my ability: FS Kulaste (BJP MP, Mandla,MP)
-Very happy, always wanted to do good things for people: Ramesh Jigajinagi (BJP MP, Bijapur Constituency)
-Govt has given me such a big responsibility,will try to fulfil it: Krishna Raj (MP,Shahjahanpur,UP)
-Will fulfil all the responsibility given to us by party: CR Choudhary (MP from Nagaur, Rajasthan)
-Whatever responsibility is given by party,will strive to fulfill it: MN Pandey (MP from Chandauli)
Ahead of the expansion, PM Modi was quoted as saying that the expansion of his Council of Ministers will reflect “budget focus and priorities”.
The government also indicated that some ministers may also be dropped. Senior NDA Ministers like Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Manohar Parrikar and Sushma Swaraj are most likely to retain their portfolios.
Senior leaders who are most likely to be inducted into the Modi Cabinet are Purushottam Rupala, SS Ahluwalia, Ramdas Athawale, Anupriya Patel, Ajay Tamta, Krishna Raj, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre and PP Chaudhary.
The names of Rajya Sabha MPs Vijay Goel, MJ Akbar, Anil Madhav Dave have also been doing the rounds as possible new entrants.
Faggan Singh Kulhaste, who was embroiled in the cash-for-votes scam during the UPA-1 rule, CR Chaudhary, Jasvantsinh Bhabhor, Rajen Gohain and Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi are also likely to be inducted
The 19 ministers come from states like UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Assam.
The Cabinet will get a new Minister of State for Sports (independent charge), a post which fell vacant after Sarbananda Sonowal became the Chief Minister of Assam.
The sources said the expansion comes after an “exhaustive vetting and selection process” to find the best talent.
Though party sources claimed the changes were not on caste or regional imperatives, the list of probables suggested a careful balancing act based on political considerations.
The first expansion had occurred in November 2014. There are currently 64 Union ministers, including the Prime Minister, and there can be a maximum of 82 of them under a constitutional bar.
