Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted 9 new ministers into his cabinet. This is expected to be the last cabinet reshuffle before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The swearing-in ceremony took place this morning at the Rashtrapati Bhavan where President Ram Nath Kovind administered oath to the new members of the Union Council of Ministers as well as those who were elevated to cabinet rank.
Shiv Pratap Shukla
A law graduate from Gorakhpur University, Shiv Pratap Shukla started off his political journey as a student leader in the 1970s. He is a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh and currently a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development. Shukla was elected a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly for 4 consecutive times in 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1996 and is known for his work in Rural Development, Education and Prison reform during his tenure.
Ashwini Kumar Choubey
A Lok Sabha MP from Buxar, Bihar, Choubey has been credited to have raised the slogan "Ghar-ghar me ho shouchalaya ka nirman, tabhi hoga ladli bitiya ka kanyadaan". He has helped construct 11,000 toilets for Mahadalit families. He is member of the Parliamentary Committee on Estimates and Standing Committee on Energy and also of Member of Central Silk Board.
He has been elected for 5 consecutive terms to the Bihar Legislative Assembly and held important portfolios including Health, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering as a Cabinet Minister of Bihar government for 8 years. A BSc (Hons) in Zoology, he started early in politics as the president of the Student`s Union of Patna University and also took active part in the JP movement in the 1970s.
Virendra Kumar
A Lok Sabha MP from Tikamgah, Madhya Pradesh, he has had a distinguished career in public service as a 6 term Lok Sabha MP.
Currently is the chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour. Armed with an MA in Economics and a PhD in Child Labour, Kumar Kumar had actively participated in the JP movement of the 1970s, and went to jails for 16 months under MISA during the Emergency.
Anantkumar Hegde
A member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and Human Resource Development, Hegde is a Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada, Karnataka. He was elected as an MP for the first time at the young age of 28 years and is now 5th term Lok Sabha MP. During his multiple stints in Parliament, he has been a member of multiple Parliamentary Standing Committees. He is a practitioner of Tae-kwon-do and Korean Martial Art.
Raj Kumar Singh
A Lok Sabha MP from Arrah, Bihar, Raj Kumar Singh serves on Parliamentary Standing Committees on Health and Family Welfare, Personnel, Pensions and Public Grievances and Law & Justice.
He is a former top bureaucrat, retiring as the Home Secretary of India. He also had experience of serving in the Bihar Home Department and also been associated with other fields including public works, agriculture and industries.
Hardeep Singh Puri
Hardeep Singh Puri is a former diplomat and has represented India at the United Nations as the ambassador and permanent representative. He has been the Indian ambassadors to several nations, including Brazil and United Kingdom. Before being inducted in to the Indian Foreign Service in 1974, Puri was a student leader in Delhi and was active during the Jayaprakash Narayan movement years.
During his four-decade IFS career, Puri also served as the chairman of the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN. He is currently the President and chairman of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a Delhi-based think tank.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
A Lok Sabha MP from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is on the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance and is the chairperson of the Fellowship Committee. He is also known to be closely connected to sports, having participated in national and all-India university-level in basketball competitions. Shekhawat is also a member of the All India Council of Sports and the president of the Basketball India Players Association.
Satya Pal Singh
A former Indian Police Services officer, Satya Pal Singh is currently is a Lok Sabha MP from Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh. He serves on Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs and is also the chairperson of the Joint Committee on Offices of Profit.
He has been involved in anti-Naxal operations in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and was even awarded with Special Service Medal for his tenure in these areas. He has served as the Commissioner of Police in Mumbai and Pune and holds an MBA, MA and a PhD, the latter in Naxalism.
Alphons Kannanthanam
A former bureaucrat and a practising advocate Alphons Kannanthanam was once listed on the TIME Magazine's list of 100 Young Global Leaders. During his stint as an Indian Administrative Services officer, Kannanthanam was responsible for turning Kottayam in Kerala into India's first 100 per cent literate town, in 1989.
He also served in Delhi, where he became known for launching a drive to rid Delhi Development Authority areas of around 15,000 illegal buildings. The 1979 IAS batch officer retired has some political experience, serving as an independent in the Kerala Assembly from 2006 to 2011. His most recent brush with policy was when he was part of the committee that prepared the final draft of the National Education Policy 2017.
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