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Cabinet reshuffle: Alphons Kannanthanam MoS for tourism, IT

Ms Uma Bharti was divested off Ganga rejuvenation and water resources and shifted to ministry for water and sanitation.

New Delhi: With the clock ticking, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday shuffled his council of ministers to get the team ready for the crucial 2019 general election. He promoted and demoted ministers on the basis of performance, threw in a few surprises and sent a signal on the “empowerment of women” by making Nirmala Sitharaman India’s first full-time woman defence minister, a portfolio mainly dominated by men.

Of the 13 ministers who took the oath on Sunday, the Prime Minister brought in nine new faces. One of his surprise picks was Alphons Kannanthanam from Kerala on whom he has vested important portfolios of tourism and information technology with independent charge. The other was retired diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri for housing and urban affairs (independent charge). Neither is a member of Parliament, and must be elected to either of the two Houses within six months.

Two other former bureaucrats were brought in too - former home secretary R.K. Singh and former Mumbai police commissioner Satya Pal Singh - both of whom are Lok Sabha members.

For their performance, Piyush Goyal, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Dharmendra Pradhan were elevated. While Mr Goyal, minister of state (independent charge) for power, was elevated to Cabinet rank and given charge of the crucial railway ministry too, Mr Pradhan was elevated from MoS (independent charge) to Cabinet minister in charge of petroleum. Mr Pradhan was also given additional charge of the skill development ministry, that was earlier with Rajiv Pratap Rudy, one of the ministers asked to put in his papers 48 hours before the Cabinet reshuffle. MoS (independent charge) for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was elevated to Cabinet rank.

The PM took away the sports ministry from minister of state (independent charge) Vijay Goel and shifted him to parliamentary affairs as an MoS. Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore was shifted to the sports ministry as minister of state (independent charge). Mr Rathore will also continue as MoS at I&B. Textiles minister Smriti Irani, who was given additional charge of I&B, will retain that portfolio from now as a full-time charge. After a spate of train accidents, Mr Suresh Prabhu was shifted to commerce and industries.

Ms Uma Bharti was divested off Ganga rejuvenation and water resources and shifted to ministry for water and sanitation. Mr Nitin gadkari will now take care of the other two.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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