Modi resets his Cabinet; what is in it for Bihar?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reset his cabinet bring 36 new faces and seven others being elevated while 12 ministers including the prominent faces like Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar being dropped.

From Bihar, two new faces have been inducted in the union cabinet. Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, a former bureaucrat and close confidant of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has been made union cabinet minister for steel. Pashupati Kumar Paras, a younger brother of Lok Janshakti Party founder late Ram Vilas Paswan, has taken charge as union cabinet minister for Food Processing Industries.

Only two new faces are inducted from Bihar while two other have been promoted. Bureaucrat-turned-politician Raj Kumar Singh has been promoted to cabinet rank with portfolio of Ministry of Power and New and Renewable Energy. Giriraj Singh has been allocated the plum portfolio of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.

Ashwini Kumar Choubey has continued as minister of state. However, Choubey’s portfolio has been changed. He is now Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and also in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Choubey was earlier a junior minister in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

A big surprise in cabinet reshuffle is removal of Ravi Shankar Prasad, who had been a prominent face of the Modi government since 2014. Prasad held the portfolios of Ministry of Law and Justice and IT. Prasad’s bitter run-ins with the social media giant Twitter is seen as a major reasons for his removal from the cabinet.

Six Ministers from Bihar in Modi Cabinet

With the reshuffle now the total number of ministers from Bihar in Modi cabinet stands at six. When Modi took charge for the second term in 2019 he had inducted six members in his cabinet from Bihar. Five of them were from his own party BJP and one from ally Lok Janshakti Party. Ram Vilas Paswan, Lok Janshakti Party founder, was a member of Modi cabinet, until his death last year. After Paswan’s death the number of ministers from Bihar in Modi’s cabinet had come down to five. In the new reshuffle two new faces have been inducted while one dropped. So the number has again reached six, the same as was in 2019.

From Bihar, in Modi’s new cabinet, there are two new faces – Ramchandra Prasad Singh and Pashu Pati Kumar Paras; one elevation from Minister of State (Independent charge) to cabinet minister – Raj Kumar Singh; one promotion in terms of portfolio – Giriraj Singh, allocated rural development portfolio and one change in portfolio – Ashwini Kumar Choubey, moved from health to the ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. There is no change in the status of Nityanand Rai, who continues to hold the position of Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Representation from Bihar in Modi Cabinet

The Biggest Reshuffle of Modi Cabinet

This was the biggest reshuffle in the union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Modi since May 2014. This is also perhaps among the biggest recast of the union cabinet ever. With the induction of 36 new faces the total strength of Modi cabinet has reached 78. The total number of cabinet ministers has increased from 21 to 30. The total number of minister of states has increased to 45 from 23 before the expansion. However, the minister of state with independent charge has been reduced to two from nine. Only Rao Inderjit Singh and Jitendra Singh holds independent charge as minister of state now.  

Congratulating his new cabinet colleagues Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet: “I congratulate all the colleagues who have taken oath today and wish them the very best for their ministerial tenure. We will continue working to fulfil aspirations of the people and build a strong and prosperous India. #Govt4Growth.”

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