Prime Minister Narendra Modi expanded his team on Tuesday inducting 19 new faces, many of them from Uttar Pradesh, and promoting Prakash Javadekar to cabinet rank.
There were no surprises with the PM sticking to the list that was reported in the media and the exercise clearly showed that the emphasis was more on real politics ahead of upcoming state elections.
Krishna Raj, a dalit woman MP from UP has also been included in the team.
Young backward class Parliamentarian from UP, Anupriya Patel, was inducted a day after her party Apna Dal merged with the BJP. This is seen as an attempt to target BSP chief Mayawati who claims that she is the sole leader of Women and Dalits in UP. Modi's team has 10 ministers from UP now.
With Punjab elections round the corner, Modi has inducted SS Ahluwalia into the council. Though he is a Lok Sabha member from Darjeeling in West Bengal, Ahluwalia is a Sikh, the largest community in Punjab.
Three faces from Gujarat -- Mansukh Mandaviya, Purushottam Rupala and Jaswant Sinh Bhabhor -- which goes to polls in 2017, also got ministerial berths.
Keeping an eye on Assembly elections in Karnataka in early 2018, Modi has given a chance to party’s lone dalit MP Ramesh Jigajinagi. Jigajinagi, a low-profile leader is not on good terms with party chieftain in the state, BS Yeddyurappa.
Also focusing on Uttarakhand polls, a dalit leader from Almora Ajay Tamta was inducted into the Council of Ministers. Ramdas Athawale, who is the leader of Republican Party of India (RPI-A), an allay of BJP, was also joined the government.
The biggest beneficiary of today’s expansion is Environment and Forest minister Prakash Javadekar. He has been elevated to the rank of a Cabinet minister.
PP Chaudhary, Vijay Goel, who hails from Delhi, Arjun Ram Meghwal and CR Chaudhary, all MPs from Rajasthan, joined the government.
Madhya Pradesh MPs -- Anil Madhav Dave from Indore, Faggan Kulaste from Mandla, journalist-turned-politician MJ Akbar, Rajen Gohain from Assam and SR Bhamre from Maharashtra were among the those administered the oath of Office and Secrecy by President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhawan attended by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Modi, his cabinet colleagues, BJP President Amit Shah and leaders allied parties among others.
No Congress leader was present.
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