Union Cabinet Expansion and Reshuffle

On July 07, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expanded its council of ministers in the third year of his second term. Besides, a new ministry was also created, namely, the Ministry of Cooperation. Amit Shah is the first Minister of Cooperation. With 43 inductions (15 Cabinet and 28 Ministers of State), now the total strength of the union cabinet has increased to 78. Of these, 36 are new ministers including 16 first-time MPs. Besides, seven ministers were promoted to Cabinet rank.

With seven new women ministers, now total of women ministers in this cabinet has become 11. Some young faces have also been included. The inducted ministers represent various social groups and regions.

Factors behind the Expansion and Reshuffle

In the process of reshuffling, the focus has been on Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal. Uttar Pradesh is the most crucial state for the BJP for having the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats. The inclusion of the allies like JD(U), Apna Dal, etc., holds pointer to the fact that the Modi government is not willing to let go more of its allies since two of its major partners, i.e., Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal have already deserted the NDA over different issues. Hopefully, the move will boost the confidence of its allies and the same will prove beneficial for the ruling party in the coming polls. The move is also aimed at making space for new faces besides setting right the political equations for the forthcoming crucial polls.

The present reshuffle can also be viewed as a means of bringing in talent, including many technocrats, administrators, former chief ministers, IAS officers, lawyers, doctors, etc.

The ministers who submitted their resignation are—

1. Ramesh Pokhriyal (Education); 2. Harsh Vardhan (Health); 3. Prakash Javadekar (Environment); 4. Pratap Sarangi (Animal and Husbandry); 5. Debasree Chaudhuri (Women and Child Welfare); 6. Santosh Gangwar (Labour); 7. Sanjay Dhotre (MoS Education); 8. DV Sadananda Gowda (Chemicals and Fertilizers); 9. Ratan Lal Kataria (MoS Jal Shakti, Social Justice, and Empowerment); 10. Babul Supriyo (MoS for Environment, Forest, and Climate); and 11. Ashwini Choubey (MoS for Health and Family Welfare).

Complete Union Cabinet

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi (Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space; and all other important policy issues and portfolios not allocated to any minister)

1. Rajnath Singh (Defence);
2. Amit Shah (Home Affairs and Cooperation);
3. Mansukh Mandaviya (Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers, Promoted);
4. Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport and Highways);
5. Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance and Corporate Affairs);
6. Narendra Singh Tomar (Agriculture and Farmers Welfare);
7. Dr S Jaishankar (External Affairs);
8. Arjun Munda (Tribal Affairs);
9. Smriti Irani (Women and Child Development);
10. Piyush Goyal (Commerce and Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution);
11. Dharmendra Pradhan (Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship);
12. Pralhad Joshi (Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines);
13. Narayan Tatu Rane (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, New);
14. Sarbananda Sonowal (Ports, Shipping and Waterways; and AYUSH, New);
15. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (Minority Affairs);
16. Dr Virendra Kumar (Social Justice and Empowerment, New);
17. Giriraj Singh (Rural Development and Panchayati Raj);
18. Jyotiraditya M Scindia (Civil Aviation, New);
19. Ashwini Vaishnaw (Railways, Communications, and Electronics and Information Technology, New);
20. Ramchandra Prasad Singh (Steel, New);
21. Pashu Pati Kumar Paras (Food Processing Industries, New);
22. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Jal Shakti);
23. Kiren Rijiju (Law and Justice, Promoted);
24. Raj Kumar Singh (Power and New and Renewable Energy, Promoted);
25. Hardeep Singh Puri (Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs, Promoted);
26. Bhupender Yadav (Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Labour and Employment, New);
27. Mahendra Nath Pandey (Heavy Industries);
28. Parshottam Rupala (Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, Promoted);
29. G Kishan Reddy (Culture, Tourism, and Development of North Eastern Region, Promoted);
30. Anurag Singh Thakur (Information and Broadcasting; Youth Affairs and Sports, Promoted)

Ministers of State (Independent Charge)

1. Rao Inderjeet Singh (Statistics and Programme Implementation; Planning; and Corporate Affairs); 2. Dr Jitendra Singh (Earth Sciences; MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; MoS in Department of Atomic Energy; and MoS in the Department of Space)

Ministers of State

1. Shripad Yesso Naik (Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Tourism);
2. Faggansingh Kulaste (Steel and Rural Development);
3. Prahalad Singh Patel (Jal Shakti and Food);
4. Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; Environment, Forest and Climate Change);
5. Arjun Ram Meghwal (Parliamentary Affairs and Culture);
6. General (Retd) VK Singh (Road Transport and Highways; Civil Aviation);
7. Krishan Pal (Power and Heavy Industries);
8. Danve Raosaheb Dadarao (Railways Coal and Mines);
9. Ramdas Athawale (Social Justice and Empowerment);
10. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Rural Development);
11. Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan (Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying);
12. Nityanand Rai (Home Affairs);
13. Pankaj Chaowdhary (Finance, New);
14. Anupriya Singh Patel (Commerce and Industry, New);
15. Prof SP Singh Baghel (Law and Justice, New);
16. Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; Electronics and Information Technology, New);
17. Shobha Karandlaje (Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, New);
18. Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, New);
19. Darshana Vikram Jardosh (Textiles and Railways, New);
20. V Muraleedharan (External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs);
21. Meenakashi Lekhi (External Affairs and Culture New);
22. Som Parkash (Commerce and Industry);
23. Renuka Singh Saruta (Tribal Affairs);
24. Rameswar Teli (Petroleum and Natural Gas and Labour and Employment);
25. Kailash Choudhary (Agriculture and Farmers Welfare);
26. Annpurna Devi (Education, New);
27. A Narayanaswamy (Social Justice and Empowerment, New);
28. Shri Kaushal Kishore (Urban Affairs, New);
29. Shri Ajay Bhatt (Defence, New);
30. Shri BL Verma (Development of North Eastern Region and Cooperation, New);
31. Shri Ajay Kumar (Home Affairs, New);
32. Shri Devusinh Chauhan (Communications, New);
33. Shri Bhagwanth Khuba (New and Renewable Energy and Chemicals and Fertilizers, New);
34. Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil (Panchayati Raj, New);
35. Sushri Pratima Bhoumik (Social Justice and Empowerment, New);
36. Dr Subhas Sarkar (Education, New);
37. Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad (Finance, New);
38. Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh (External Affairs and Education, New);
39. Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar (Health and Family Welfare, New);
40. Shri Bishweswar Tudu (Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti, New);
41. Shri Shantanu Thakur (Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, New);
42. Dr Munjapara Mahendrabhai (Women and Child Development; Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), New);
43. Shri John Barla (Minority Affairs, New);
44. Dr L Murugan (Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying; Information and Broadcasting, New);
45. Shri Nisith Pramanik (Home Affairs and Youth Affairs and Sports, New)

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