The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday witnessed a major reshuffle. Forty-Three ministers took oath at the swearing ceremony held in the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

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Twelve ministers including Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar were dropped as 35 new faces joined the cabinet. 

Ramesh Pokhriyal, who was the Education Minister from 2020, also resigned. Former Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Minster of Steel Dharmendra Pradhan will be leading the ministry. 

Pradhan took oath as the Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

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A member of Rajya Sabha, representing Madhya Pradesh, Dharmendra Pradhan was promoted to a Cabinet Minister on September 3, 2017.

He is the son of Debendra Pradhan, who was also a cabinet minister in the Vajpayee government from 1999-2004. An ABVP activist, Pradhan holds a post-graduate degree in Anthropology from Utkal University in Bhubaneswar. He served multiple positions in the BJP before being elected to the 14th Lok Sabha.

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Pradhan is also known as the %u2018Ujjwala Man%u2019 and credited with the success of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana launched by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas under which over 8 million LPG connections have been provided to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families over the past six years.

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