New Delhi: With the induction of 19 new faces, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also dropped five ministers from his cabinet
Earlier in the day, five ministers tendered their resignations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They are Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Nihal Chand Meghwal, MoS HRD Ram Shankar Katheria, MoS Water Resources Sanwar Lal Jat, MoS Tribal Affairs Manuskhbhai D. Vasva and MoS Agriculture M.K. Kundariya.
An MP from Ganganagar, Nihalchand's name as one of the accused in a 2011 rape case and the court notices issued to him along with 16 others in 2014 after he became a minister, brought much embarrassment for the party.
Ram Shankar Katheria, the Agra MP drew a lot of flak over his alleged statement that Muslims should prepare for “final battle” at a public meeting in Agra in February.
Earlier in the day, speaking to ANI, Ram Shankar Katheria said, "PM Modi and Amit Shah have given responsibility to new people, I welcome them. Amit Shah ji has asked me to work with him for the party. I told him, 'his wish is my command'."
Sanwar Lal Jat is an MP from Ajmer and was an MoS in the Water Resources ministry. Mohanbhai Kundariya was a MoS in-charge of agriculture.
Even after Modi's repeated appeals to his party MPs to be regular at parliament, Sanwar Lal Jat,during 2014's monsoon session, stayed away from the House for 37 days.
There were rumours that he could be dropped because of poor health and replaced by another person from his community.
The choices also underscore BJP's attempts to strengthen its vote base among dalits and other backward castes, party sources said, adding that states, where it has done well in the Lok Sabha polls and also where it faces state polls, have also now got ample representation.
Official sources said the exercise was aimed at infusing more "experience, expertise and energy" into the government.
With this, the total number of ministers in the Modi government tots up to 80. The last UPA government had 78 Ministers on its team.
Javadekar was the only Cabinet Minister with 19 fresh new faces taking oath as Ministers of State.
