Modi all set for major cabinet reshuffle; senior ministers including Harsh Vardhan resign, Rajeev Chandrasekhar to join cabinet

NEW DELHI: In the first reshuffle of the second Narendra Modi cabinet, some senior ministers have lost their posts. Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Fertilizer Minister Sadananda Gowda, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar have resigned before the reshuffle. The new ministers will be sworn in at 6 pm today.

Women and Child Welfare Minister Debashree Chaudhari, Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre and Minister of State for Animal Welfare Prathap Chandra Sarangi have also resigned. A total of 43 people, including cabinet ministers, will be sworn in today. Rajiv Chandrasekhar, a Malayalee and Rajya Sabha member, will be inducted into the cabinet.

It has been indicated that Harsh Vardhan lost his post due to the lapse in handling the second wave of Covid. Ashwini Kumar Chaubey, who resigned, was the minister of state for health. The second wave of Covid posed a major challenge to the health sector in the country.

The reshuffle has made great changes by giving representation to youth and women. There are indications that Minister of State for finance Anurag Thakur will be given a cabinet rank. Thakur met the Prime Minister today. Ministers of State G Kishan Reddy, Hardeep Puri and Purushottam Rupala will also be elevated.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, who left the Congress and joined the BJP, will be inducted in the cabinet with cabinet rank. Sarbananda Sonowal from Assam and Narayan Rane from Maharashtra will also be inducted as cabinet ministers.

BJP national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi and Sobha Karandlaje from Karnataka will find a place in the cabinet. Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel, Kapil Patil, Ajay Bhatt, Bhupender Yadav, Pritam Munde, Parupathi Paras, Sunita Dugal, Ashwini Yadav, B L Verma and Shantanu Thakur will also be sworn in today. R P Singh and Lalan Singh will be ministers from the JD (U).