Cabinet reshuffle 3.0: Nine new ministers take oath, four elevated

Before Prime Minister Narendra MOdi leaves for BRICS Summit in China, he will have his new Cabinet in place. The swearing-in ceremony will be held at 10.30 am on Sunday, September 3. President Ram Nath Kovind will be swearing in the group of new Cabinet ministers.

This will be the third Cabinet reshuffle of the government after Prime Minister Modi came to power in May 2014. There are significant factors that come to play with the prime minister hoping to be re-elected in one-and-a-half year's time.

Pressure to perform

It's been more than three years since Modi government came to power. The prime minister has launched several major projects including the vision 'New India by 2022' but the latest controversy over demonetisation has made it extremely important for the PM to reproduce his magic in the remaining period of his term.

The leaked list of nine members with new responsibilities portrays that they have been selected to deliver owing to their profile that speaks of their experience in policy and other areas of expertise.

Easing the work load

In the past few months, several ministers have been switching responsibilities, moulding themselves according to the needs. For example, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was handed over the additional charge of defence by BJP and Manohar Parrikar was sent back to Goa as the state's chief minister.

Narendra Singh Tomar, who is currently responsible for Rural development and Urban Affairs, has been handling four ministries while Dr Harsh Vardhan has been handling three.

Also Read: Cabinet reshuffle: Who will PM Modi choose in 3rd rejig ahead of 2019 elections?

Defence 

The recent Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese soldiers has raised concerns on the need for a full time defence minister after Manohar Parrikar departed to lead BJP in Goa.

Elections

Lok Sabha 2019 elections may not be the only election for BJP while deciding its new Cabinet. Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka will also go to Assembly elections in the next year. While Himachal and Karnataka are Congress-led states, Gujarat will go to the polls for the first time after Narendra Modi and Amit Shah left for national duties.

Meanwhile here are the live updates:

11.10am IST: Swearing-in ceremony over. Here are the newly inducted ministers.

11.06am IST: KJ Alphons, former IAS officer from Kerala cadre, takes oath as Minister. He became famous as Delhi's "Demolition Man" when he was the commissioner of Delhi Development Authority (DDA), reported Firstpost.

11.03am IST: A former IPS officer, Satya Pal Singh, was the Mumbai Police commissioner before entering politics in 2014.

10.56am IST: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi takes oath as Cabinet minister. BJP's Veerendra Kumar, a six-term MP from Tikamgarh and an important Dalit face of the BJP takes oath as MoS. Meanwhile, RK Singh, Anantkumar Hegde and Hardeep Singh Puri have been sworn-in as MoS, Firstpost reported.

10.46am IST: 

10.40am IST: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan takes oath.

10.39am IST: President Ram Nath Kovind arrives for the oath taking ceremony.

10.28am IST: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives for oath taking ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

10.24am IST: Union Minister Uma Bhati will not attend the oath taking ceremony as she attending an event at Varanasi, according to ANI.  

10.04am IST: Oath taking ceremony to begin shortly as ministers arrive at Rashtrapati Bhavan

9.57am IST: Shiv Sena will not be attending the oath ceremony today at Rashtrapati Bhavan and is unhappy about the same. On Saturday, party chief Uddhav Thackeray told the reporters that he was not communicated by BJP about inclusion of members in the Union cabinet. "I have got news about the Cabinet expansion only from media. I have neither received any communication from anybody nor are we hungry for power," Thackeray told, according to News18. 

9.27am IST: 

9.25am IST: ​Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is the fourth person to be promoted after Dharmendra Pradhan, Nirmala Sitaraman and Piyush Goyal, News 18 reported.

9.17am IST: RK Singh, a Lok Sabha MP from Arrah in Bihar, said, "I thank the PM for expressing confidence in my ability," reported ANI.

9.11am IST: Ahead of reshuffle, the Congress, on Saturday, raised questions if the minsters, who may be removed or who resigned, had any hand in corruption cases that are currently being investigated while blaming the Centre for being 'selective' and 'opportunistic' when it came to handling opposition leaders, PTI reported.  

9.02am IST: On Friday, Congress said that the reshuffle of the Union cabinet will make  "zero difference" as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has all the power. Further, party spokesperson Anand Sharma blamed Modi for destroying the Cabinet form of government, News18 reported. Meanwhile, sources close to Nitin Gadkari have said that he wants to continue with his current portfolio - surface transport and shipping. 

8.52am IST: Ministers leave for PM residence ahead of swearing-in, India Today reported. Meanwhile, with government sources giving away the names of people who will be inducted in the Union council of ministers, the surprise factor is that member of BJP's allies such as JD(U) and Shiv Sena are absent from the list, said a CNN News 18 report.

8.22am IST: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet the new reporters at 9.00 am on Sunday, NDTV reported.

8.17am IST: Rashtrapati Bhavan confirms the time for swearing in ceremony.