New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi expanded his council of ministers on Sunday, an exercise that is expected to make the Cabinet more representative socially, streamline work distribution, and balance power equations — both within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and with allies. Manohar Parrikar, Suresh Prabhu, Virender Singh and JP Nadda grabbed Cabinet rank.
In the first major expansion of the Cabinet, Mr. Modi included several new faces and reshuffled a couple of ministers to give wider State-wise representation.
Cabinet rank Manohar Parrikar: He is the first IITian to become the Chief Minister of any Indian state. Mr. Parrikar said that he had decided to accept the offer of Union Cabinet seat as a matter of “national interest” although he also said that he was extremely attached to Goa.
Suresh Prabhu: Suresh Prabhu, a former Cabinet minister, is the head of a high-level panel on power revamp — “Advisory Group for Integrated Development of Power, Coal and Renewable Energy”. Mr. Prabhu was the initiator of reforms in the power sector during his tenure as Power Minister in the former NDA government when he had piloted the integrated electricity bill and the law for setting up a regulator.
J.P. Nadda: He is a Rajya Sabha member from Himachal Pradesh and also the national general secretary of the BJP. He also served as the President of Olympic Association, Himachal Pradesh from 2008 to 2012.
Birender Singh: He is a Jat leader from Haryana. In August, Birendra Singh ended his four-decade-long association with the Congress and joined the BJP. Mr. Singh is one of the many Congress leaders to have shifted their loyalties to the BJP in the recent months.
MoS (Independent Charge) rankBandaru Dattatreya: He is a former Union Minister for Railways and was appointed as chairman of parliamentary committee on OBC welfare. He was re-elected to 16th Lok Sabha from Secunderabad Constituency.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy: He is the BJP MP from Saran constituency in Bihar. He was the civil aviation minister in the previous NDA government. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections Mr. Rudy defeated former Bihar CM Rabri Devi.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is BJP’s prominent Muslim face and is a vice-president of the party. He is also the party’s youth wing president. In 1998 he was appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and was also given responsibility over the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
MoS rankRam Kripal Yadav: The BJP Patliputra MP will be the party’s “Yadav” face in next year’s Assembly elections, challenging his erstwhile leader and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad.
Giriraj Singh: A senior party leader who recently stoked controversy with his speeches during the election campaign wherein he said that those who opposed Modi belong in Pakistan. The statement drew flak from the Opposition parties and Election Commission. The BJP distanced itself from Mr Singh’s remarks.
Hansraj Gangaram Ahir: He is an MP from Maharashtra who is credited with uncovering the coal block scam.
Y.S. Chowdary: A first-time Rajya Sabha member, Mr. Chowdary is the second MP from the Telugu Desam Party, to be inducted into the Cabinet, the first being Union Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who represents the Vizianagaram constituency. He is popularly known as ‘Sujana’ Chowdary for founding the Sujana group of industries which manufactures home appliances.
Jayant Sinha: He is the Lok Sabha MP from Hazaribagh constituency, Jharkhand. Mr Sinha, son of Yashwant Sinha was an investment professional and an alumunus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and Harvard Business School. At McKinsey, Mr. Sinha co-led the global Software and IT Services practice.
Babul Supriyo: He is a popular singer and BJP MP from West Bengal’s Asansol seat. He will be the first Minster from West Bengal in the National Democratic Alliance government.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore: He is a first time MP from Jaipur Rural and also an Olympian shooter. He is a recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards.
Vijay Sampla: He is a BJP MP from Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Others: MoS (Independent Charge) - Dr. Mahesh Sharma; MoS - H.P. Chowdhary, Mohan Kundariya, Ramshankar Katheria, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Sanwar Lal Jat.
