PM Modi cabinet rejig: Key ministerial portfolios that are now open

Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s big cabinet reshuffle exercise saw as many as 36 new faces being included in the Modi government. Ahead of the mega rejig, reportedly to facilitate the rejig, several ministers resigned from the Cabinet, leaving several key ministerial portfolios is up for grabs.

As many as 12 ministers resigned from their posts as the Union Council of Ministers.

With the additions done and dusted at the Ashoka Hall in the Rashtrapati Bhawan, here’s the list of key ministerial portfolios that are now open:

-Law and Justice

-Communications

-Electronics and Information Technology

-Health and Family Welfare

-Science and Technology

-Earth Sciences

-Environment, Forest and Climate Change

-Information and Broadcasting

-Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

-Social Justice and Empowerment

-Education

-Chemical and Fertiliser

Here’s the full list of ministers who resigned:

-Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan

-Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar

-Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank

-Minister for chemical and fertilizers Sadananda Gowda

-MoS for Human Resources Development Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre

-MoS Woman and Child Development Debasree Chaudhuri

-Minister of State for Jal Shakti Ratan Lal Kataria

-MoS Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Pratap Sarangi

-Union minister of state Babul Supriyo

-Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey

-Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar

-Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad

The reshuffle comes at a time when the BJP is bracing to face 5 state assembly elections next year, including the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh. The government is also trying for an image makeover to counter the intense Opposition criticism over the alleged gaps in the handling of the second wave of the COVID pandemic that brought the country to its knees.