Topic: Cabinet reshuffle

Before Modi cabinet reshuffle, channels were delighted by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s speech. But Stan Swamy, Supreme Court's remark, or CBSE's new system were virtually missing.

Other key elevations include Anurag Thakur with I&B, Jyotiraditya Scindia with civil aviation and Kiren Rijiju with law. A surprise first-time inductee is Ashwini Vaishnaw who got 3 key ministries — railways, IT & communications.

Among the latest changes, Jyotiraditya Scindia gets civil aviation portfolio, Dharmendra Pradhan given education, and Mansukh Mandaviya gets health ministry.

Of the seven newly inducted ministers from Uttar Pradesh, three are OBCs, three are Dalits. The 7th is a Brahmin, and the choice has surprised many.

There are now 14 ministers below 50 in Modi govt, as opposed to 6 in the pre-reshuffle council. A total of 36 ministers are aged below 60, in comparison to 16 earlier.

Four MPs inducted in Council of Ministers indicate BJP made careful political considerations to ensure support from the communities when the country votes in the next Lok Sabha polls.

According to LocalCircles survey, 53 per cent Indians believe that the government needs a robust system of accountability to improve governance.

The massive reshuffle of Team Modi saw several heavyweight ministers being dropped. New faces emphasise a mix of caste, youth, women and representation from poll-bound states.

Total number of women in Council of Ministers now stands at 11, nearly double the figure inducted when Modi govt was sworn in for the second term in 2019.

Scindia resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP in 2020, triggering a chain of events that led to the collapse of the Kamal Nath govt just 15 months after its formation.