Cabinet Reshuffle: 36 new ministers join Modi govt; 4 high-profile ministers resign

BL Verma, Ajay Kumar, Chauhan Devusinh, take oath as ministers.

Parshottam Rupala, G Kishan Reddy and Anurag Thakur take oath as ministers.

Hardeep Singh Puri, Mansukh Mandaviya, Bhupender Yadav take oath as ministers.

Supporters of BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia celebrate his inclusion in the new Union Cabinet, outside the BJP office in Bhopal.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narayan Tatu Rane, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Dr Virendra Kumar take oath as ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind have arrived at Rashtrapati Bhavan for the swearing-in ceremony of 43 new ministers.

Visuals from inside the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Total 43 leaders including Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal, Pashupati Kumar Paras, Bhupender Yadav, Anupriya Patel, Shobha Karandlaje, Meenakshi Lekhi, and Anurag Thakur will take oath as ministers today.

BJP leaders Prakash Javdekar, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Harsh Vardhan participate in swearing-in ceremony of 43 new ministers. They resigned as union ministers earlier today. CDS General Bipin Rawat also present at the ceremony.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has said the resignations of the Union Health Minister and the MoS Health is a candid confession that the Modi government has utterly failed in managing the pandemic.

The ministers who have resigned from their posts are IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, environment minister Prakash Javadekar, health minister Harsh Vardhan, education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank, DV Sadananda Gowda, Thaawarchand Gehlot, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Babul Supriyo, Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao, Rattan Lal Kataria, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, and Debasree Chaudhuri.

Union Minister for Law and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad and Union Minister for Environment and Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar have tendered their resignations to President Ram Nath Kovind.

The President of India accepts resignation of 12 members of the Council of Ministers including IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank and others: Rashtrapati Bhavan

The Congress says the exercise is not driven by performance or governance but meant for "distribution of the spoils of power" and "adjustment" of defectors. Surjewala said if the cabinet expansion is to be done on the basis of performance, then the prime minister should have been the first one to be removed for his failures in providing governance. "The present cabinet expansion is not performance or governance driven, but is a distribution of spoils of power and defectors adjustment programme," he told reporters."Overall, this cabinet expansion is not a performance appraisal. It is only a means of serving the interests of their allies and not for the country. But when will there be an appraisal of PM Modi's performance who brought the nation to the brink of poverty after turning away from its responsibility in the Corona epidemic," he asked. - PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with BJP MPs at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg today.

The 11 ministers dropped from the Modi Cabinet so far are Rao Saheb Danve Patil, Babul Supriyo, Dr Harsh Vardan, Pratap Sarangi, DV Sadananda Gowda, Ramesh Pokhriyal, Debashree Chaudhuri, Santosh Gangwar, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre and Rattan Lal Kataria.

5 engineers, 7 bureaucrats, 13 lawyers and 6 doctors will be part of PM Modi's new team, says BJP leader Priti Gandhi.

Former Assam chief minister and BJP leader Sarbananda Sonowal leaves from his residence. He is among 43 leaders who will take oath as ministers in PM Modi's new Cabinet.

BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia leaves from his residence for   the oath-taking ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Considering the Assembly polls in India's largest state UP next year, the Modi Cabinet has decided to induct seven leaders from the state. The names of these leaders are Kaushal Kishore, SP Baghel, Pankaj Choudhary, BL Verma, Ajay Mishra, Bhanu Pratap Verma and Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel.

Poor Dr. Harsh Vardhan, a good man has been made a scapegoat for monumental failures at the highest level — nowhere else.