Modi shuffles deck with eye on 2019
PM promotes four ministers to Cabinet rank, inducts nine new faces; NDA allies kept out of rejig
NEWDELHI: Nirmala Sitharaman became the defence minister of the country, only the second woman after Indira Gandhi to hold the post since Independence, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi revamped his team on Sunday, inducting nine new members and changing major portfolios to bring dynamism and efficiency in governance.
Piyush Goyal became the railway minister, replacing Suresh Prabhu who had offered to resign after a spate of fatal train disasters. Prabhu replaced Sitharaman as minister of commerce and industry.
In probably the last major restructuring of his team before the 2019 general elections, Modi displayed innovation and boldness in picking new ministers and dropping half-a-dozen nonperformers. He inducted four former bureaucrats and gave three of them independent charge of ministries.
Former diplomat Hardeep Puri was made housing and urban affairs minister, former home secretary RK Singh got power and new and renewable energy, and former DDA commissioner KJ Alphons will head tourism. To reward performers, he promoted four ministers to cabinet rank — Sitharaman, Goyal, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. He gave independent charge of ministries to three ministers of state — Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Santosh Gangwar and Giriraj Singh.
Textiles minister Smriti Irani retained the information and broadcasting portfolio, given to her as additional charge after Naidu resigned before he was elected India’s vice president. Modi wielded stick on non-performers, shifting water resources and Ganga rejuvenation minister Uma Bharti to the lowprofile drinking water and sanitation ministry.
Road, transport and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari will now hold these portfolios. New Delhi parliamentarian Vijay Goel was divested of the independent charge of sports and youth affairs.
Sitharaman’s elevation is likely to go down well with women across the country and in her home state, Tamil Nadu.