New Delhi: The long awaited expansion and reshuffling of union cabinet is underway at Rashtrapati Bhavan with the induction of 19 new ministers in the Modi government.
All those inducted today will be junior ministers or ministers of state and not of cabinet rank, though some may be given independent charge of their ministries.No changes are expected to the Big 4 ministries - Defence, Finance, Home and Foreign Affairs.
The new ministers have been chosen after an exhaustive vetting process based on a selection framework from the Prime Minister. He wanted "doers and performers" who can "deliver on his vision of development and priorities - gaon garib and kisan.
MPs from ten states got the ministerial ranks which includes three ministers each from UP, Gujarat, MP and 4 from Rajashthan.
With latest expansion, the cabinet has 80 members as council of ministers including the PM; constitutionally, the most it can have is 82.
Before the expansion there were 66 members, with the inclusion of 19 new members and resignation of five, the total strength stands at 80.
Here is the list of ministers who took oath as ministers in Modi Cabinet
Dr Subhash Ramrao Bhamre takes oath as the Minister of state at the President's House in Delhi
P P Choudhary sworn in as the Minister of State at the President's House in Delhi
CR Chaudhary sworn in as the Minister of State at the President's House in Delhi
Anupriya Patel takes oath as the Minister of State in presence of President Pranab Mukherjee
Mansukh Mandaviya takes oath as the Minister of state in presence of President Pranab Mukherjee
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 at the President's House in Delhi
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 Khulaste takes oath as Cabinet Minister at the President's House
*Javdekar promoted to Cabinet rank, 19 new ministers take oath
It is the second since the NDA came to power in May 2014.
All those who are to be sworn in on Tuesday met BJP president Amit Shah, who told them of their likely appointment, on Monday.
According to reports, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who also holds the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting Ministry may be relieved of the additional charges.
The confirmation of the cabinet expansion came from Frank Noronha, the government’s principal spokesperson and director general of the Press Information Bureau, who tweeted, “Cabinet expansion tomorrow at 11am.”
The new cabinet is likely to induct 19 new Ministers coming from over 10 states - UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Assam. Several leaders from Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls early next year, could be inducted in the new Cabinet.
Modi first expanded his cabinet in November 2014 when he inducted 21 new faces, including defence minister Manohar Parrikar, health minister J.P. Nadda and rail minister Suresh Prabhu. At present, there are 64 Union ministers, including Modi.
