Journalism of Courage
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expanded his Union Council of ministers at a ceremony in the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. President Pranab Mukherjee administered oath to the 19 new ministers of state as well as a cabinet rank oath to minister Prakash Javadekar.
The second exercise by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in little more than two years since he took over in May 2014 saw a number a dalit and OBC leaders being given ministerial positions done apparently with an eye on assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand next year and Gujarat later. (Source: PIB)
READ Modi Cabinet reshuffle: 19 new MoS, Javadekar gets elevated, 5 ministers sacked
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Cabinet Minister to Prakash Javadekar, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016.
Prakash Javadekar, the lone Minister of State in the Modi government to have been elevated to Cabinet rank, has been rewarded for his work in the Environment Ministry, especially his pro-active role in the climate change talks in Paris.
He was BJP spokesperson and party's incharge of Andhra Pradesh at the time of his inclusion in the Council of Ministers. He was also instrumental in striking a deal with Chandrababu Naidu's TDP to bring it into the NDA-fold. Javadekar had also played a role in unearthing cash for vote scam. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Ajay Tamta, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016.
Tamta, who would turn 44 on July 16, cut his teeth in politics as a member of district panchayat in his home state Uttarakhand and rose to become its vice president.
The induction of the dalit leader from Almora comes at a time when BJP is promoting leaders of the dalit and backward communities in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand where assembly polls are due early next year. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Anil Madhav Dave, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Anupriya Patel, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016.
Anupriya Patel, a first time MP, is an eloquent pro-Modi voice within and outside the Lok Sabha whose OBC roots have positioned her as an important BJP ally in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
The 35-year-old Lok Sabha member from Mirzapur in UP won on the ticket of Apna Dal, a party founded by her father and Kurmi leader Sonelal Patel which later split, with the major faction siding with her mother, who expelled her from the party. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Arjun Ram Meghwal, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016.
A bureaucrat-turned-politician, Arjun Ram Meghwal, the chief whip of BJP in Lok Sabha, is known for his penchant for pedalling to Parliament.
A two-time MP, the 61-year-old was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 from Bikaner constituency which was earlier represented by Bollywood star Dharmendra.
Known for his active participation in Lok Sabha debates on a variety of issues, Meghwal had recently attacked the judiciary for its "extra constitutional" activism. The dalit leader had demanded that "running commentary" by judges should end. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to C R Chaudhary, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Faggan Singh Kulaste, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016.
Mandla MP Faggan Singh Kulaste, was also a junior minister in former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Cabinet, took oath as the Minister of State.
(Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Sumanbhai Bhabhor, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016.
A BJP leader from Gujarat, Jasvantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor is an Adivasi MP elected from Dahod. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Krishna Raj, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016.
A Dalit, the Shahjahanpur MP Krishna Raj is among the three new faces from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh to be inducted into the ministry.
As per caste equations, Krishna Raj has been inducted in the government to target the Dalit vote bank of Bahujan Samaj Party that is in crisis these days due to the defection of two senior leader including RK Chaudhary (Dalit) and Swami Prasad Maurya (OBC). (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Mahendra Nath Pandey, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016.
He is one of the BJP's Brahmin faces in Uttar Pradesh, where it is going the whole hog to win after being out of power for a decade-and-a-half.
Pandey, a first-time Lok Sabha member, is an MP from Chandauli bordering Bihar.
Pandey's induction in the Union government is being seen as an attempt to reach out to the significantly large Brahmin vote bank in the state. The Brahmins, who were traditionally Congress supporters, had been siding with BJP in the post-Mandal era.(Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Mansukh Mandaviya, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016.
Mansukh Mandaviya, a leader from Gujarat was inducted along with two other MPs in the Cabinet eyeing the Assembly polls next
year. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to M J Akbar, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016.
65-year-old Akbar, who was recently elected to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh, is seen as an articulate and modern Muslim voice in BJP who can also be trusted to defend it at times on the strident Hindutva pitch with his eloquent evocation of Modi's developmental agenda. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to P P Chaudhary, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016.
Born in a poor farmer family, 62-year-old Chaudhary joined the RSS when he was eight years old as a 'Bal Swayamsevak' in 1961. Hailing from Bhavi in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan, Chaudhary worked hard to study law and went on to become a senior advocate of the Supreme Court.
(Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Parshottam Rupala, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016. (Source: PIB)
A two-term Rajya Sabha MP, the Patel leader is a science graduate whe began his career as a school teacher in Gujarat and became principal of two schools and the chief officer of a civic body before joining politics.
His interest in politics began when he was chief officer of the Amreli civic body from November 1983 to March 1987. He quit his job in Amreli Municipality and joined BJP.
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Rajen Gohain, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016. (Source: PIB)
The four-time BJP MP from Assam is a known champion for the cause of small tea growers in the Northeastern state.
He belongs to the Ahom community like former CM Tarun Gogoi and his induction into the Modi Ministry could be an attempt by the BJP to penetrate into this community, traditionally known as Congress supporters. Despite Nagaon being a minority dominated constituency, Gohain was elected to the Lower House for four consecutive term. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Ramdas Athawale, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016. (Source: PIB)
Ramdas Athawale, known for his comic sense, is a prominent dalit leader from Maharashtra whose induction into the Modi government is part of BJP's endeavour to reach out to the politically crucial segment ahead of elections to five states including Uttar Pradesh.
Athawale, who heads the Republican Party of India (Athawale), an NDA ally, has been a trade unionist and is known more for his blunt remarks and popular laughter-evoking speeches in Parliament and outside. His induction came at a time when BJP has laid claim to the legacy of dalit icon B R Ambedkar. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi,, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016. (Source: PIB)
He is the only MP inducted in the Cabinet from Karnataka. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to S S Ahluwalia, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016. (Source: PIB)
The Patna-based politician is known for taking stand which at times is contrary to the party’s position.
As a minister in the Rao government, he had openly attacked the then Congress chief Sitaram Kesri, also from Bihar, for the way he handled the party affairs.
During a discussion in the Lok Sabha on a bill to amend the Negotiable Instruments Act, he spoke against the measure moved by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016. (Source: PIB)
An oncologist and a first-time MP, Subhash Bhamre's induction into the Union Ministry is being seen as the Modi government's attempt to compensate Maharashtra for the exit of Raosaheb Danve, who resigned after being appointed the president of BJP's state unit.
Bhamre is also known for visiting houses of financially weak cancer patients, who couldn't afford to visit hospital for diagnosis and treatment. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Vijay Goel, at a swearing-in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 05, 2016. (Source: PIB)
The fall in the 62-year-old Goel's stock was as swift as the rise of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in the party. He was removed as BJP's Delhi unit chief and assigned little role in the last two Assembly elections in the national capital. He was sent to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. (Source: PIB)
READ More about the minister here
