The most notable inclusion has been Jyotiraditya Scindia, who quit the Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in March last year. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh in July last year. Sarbananda Sonowal and Narayan Rane, two former chief ministers, have been inducted into the Union cabinet, too. Meanwhile, Hardeep Singh Puri, Kiren Rijiju and Mansukh Mandaviya also took oath as ministers.

 

Anupriya Patel, Meenakshi Lekhi, Sushri Pratima Bhoumik (From left to right) are the three women MPs who took oath on Wednesday.

 

The Cabinet reshuffle threw several shockers, too. Former Union health minister Harsh Vardhan was dropped from the cabinet, along with Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Union minister for information and broadcasting Prakash Javadekar. First time MP

 

PM Modi also accommodated BJP’s ally and Bihar's ruling party Janata Dal (United). JD(U) chief RCP Singh is among the new entrants. His induction followed the visit of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to the national capital last week. Lok Janshakti Party leader Pashupati Nath Paras was also inducted on Wednesday.

 

PM Modi held a series of meetings in the last few weeks with various chief ministers and Union ministers ahead of the cabinet reshuffle.