Image: Hindustan Times
Four ministers were promoted to the cabinet rank and nine new ministers took oath at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday morning following the cabinet reshuffling. The focus is now on who PM Modi will pick to be the new defence and railways ministers. Ministers from the Janata Dal United, will be inducted later, as per sources.
Sources said that power minister, Piyush Goyal, could be the new rail minister. He has been promoted to the union cabinet as are commerce minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, petroleum minister, Dharmendra Pradhan and minority affairs minister, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
Suresh Prabhu is to give up the railways ministry. Arun Jaitley will retain the finance ministry. He has been in-charge of both finance and defence ministries.
Changes in PM Modi’s cabinet and the portfolios assigned to the new ministers will be announced before PM Modi leaves for China this afternoon.