As resignations pour in ahead of the much-touted Union Cabinet expansion, a look at the new probable ministers show that the new Council of Ministers is not only younger, experienced but also made up of professionals from various fields.
Sources at the government told CNN-News18 that the incoming Council of Ministers is younger by at least three years.
“While the average age of the outgoing Council of Minister was 61 years, the average age of the new Council of Ministers is 58 years,” a govt source told CNN-News18.
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“There are 14 young ministers below the age of 50. Of them, at least six are ministers of Cabinet rank,” the source said, adding, “This is yuvaon ki sarkar to innovate and change. The Council of Ministers is energised with youth power.”
This is the first reshuffle in his Council of Ministers by Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.
Though the name of the new ministers has not been made official, according to PTI, ministerial probables met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence on Wednesday.
Those meeting Modi included BJP’s Narayan Rane, Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Bhatt, Bhupender Yadav, Shobha Karandlaje, Sunita Duggal, Meenakshi Lekhi, Bharati Pawar, Shantanu Thakur and Kapil Patil, JD(U)’s RCP Singh, LJP’s Pashupati Paras and Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel.
Some ministers of state, including G Kishan Reddy, Parshottam Rupala and Anurag Thakur, were also there, and they may be elevated, sources said.
BJP president JP Nadda was also there.
As CNN-News18 had reported earlier, amid the buzz that Modi may also drop some ministers, at least four ministers have resigned from the Union Cabinet.
These include Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan, Union Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and Minister of State for Women and Child Development Debasree Chaudhuri. Earlier, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawarchand Gehlot had resigned from the ministry after he was appointed as the Governor of Karnataka.
The expansion exercise is scheduled to be held at 6 pm at Rashtrapati Bhawan.