All You Need to Know About Modi’s 9 New Ministers

Nine new ministers, including former IFS officer Hardeep Singh Puri, ex-Mumbai Police chief Satyapal Singh and retired IAS officer Alphons Kannanthanam will be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday morning as part of the cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The new faces include BJP MPs Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Bihar), Virendra Kumar (Madhya Pradesh) and Shiv Pratap Shukla (Uttar Pradesh).

The others are Anant Kumar Hegde, Raj Kumar Singh, Hardeep Puri, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Satyapal Singh and Alphons Kannanthanam.

"The new ministers are going to be strategically placed in key ministries, especially focusing on last mile delivery directly to the people," according to PTI.

Follow live updates on the Cabinet reshuffle here.

1. Raj Kumar Singh

Lok Sabha MP from Arrah, Bihar, he served as Home Secretary of India under UPA 2. Singh reportedly had serious differences with the then Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on several issues, including the Delhi police’s handling of the protests that broke out in the aftermath of the 16 December gangrape and the handling of the Afzal Guru execution. He also famously arrested LK Advani during his Rath Yatra, while he was the district magistrate of Samastipur in 1990.

2. Satyapal Singh

Former police commissioner of Mumbai, Satyapal Singh was elected to the Lok Sabha from Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh.

3. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Lok Sabha MP from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Shekhawat is the National General Secretary of the BJP Kisan Morcha.

4. Ashwini Kumar Choubey

BJP MP from Buxar, Bihar, Choubey has served as the health minister of the state. Before contesting for the Lok Sabha, he was elected an MLA from Bhagalpur. Choubey was taken into custody during the Emergency under MISA. He has helped construct 11,000 toilets for Mahadalit families in Bihar.

5. KJ Alphons Kannanthanam

Former IAS, Kannanthanam is an Indian politician and retired civil servant. He was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 2006. In 2011, he joined the BJP and was nominated to the party’s National Executive. He first came into prominence in 1989 as the district collector of Kottayam when he was credited for driving up literacy to 100% in the town.

6. Anant Kumar Hegde

Serving in Parliament since the young age of 28 years. During his multiple stints in Parliament, he has been a member of various standing committees. With a deep focus on rural India, Anant Kumar Hegde is the Founder President of Kadamba, an NGO working in the field of rural development and rural health. He was in the news earlier this year for thrashing three doctors who allegedly made his mother wait for hours for treatment while the staff was performing an operation on another patient. The assault was caught on camera.

7. Virendra Kumar

A Lok Sabha MP from Tikamgah, Madhya Pradesh. Virendra Kumar is the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour. Kumar had actively taken part in the JP movement in the 1970s, and was jailed for 16 months under MISA during the Emergency. A member of a Scheduled Caste community himself, Virendra Kumar has been engaging with youth from backward communities.

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