New Delhi: The following are the profiles of four ministers who were elevated in the Cabinet reshuffle on Sunday.
1. Dharmendra Pradhan: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister
Pradhan has served as MoS Petroleum and Natural Gas. He is a member of the 14th Lok Sabha. Son of former BJP MP Dr. Debendra Pradhan, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha in March 2012 from Bihar. He had represented the Deogarh constituency of Odisha. Pradhan, who holds an MA (Anthropology) degree from the Utkal University in Bhubaneswar, is an active member of RSS and BJP.
Pradhan is also a general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Pradhan, who was assigned additional responsibility to look after the party activities in Jharkhand in August 2011, is a close confidant of Amit Shah. He has been lauded for two flagship projects of the petroleum ministry - PAHAL and the Ujjwala schemes - both played a key role in changing the lives of the poor.
2. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi: Minority Affairs Minister
Naqvi studied arts and mass communication. He was jailed at the age of 17 during the Emergency. As a student leader, he had participated in the activities of the Janata Party. Naqvi had unsuccessfully contested the UP assembly elections in 1980 as a candidate of Janata Party (Secular). He had also contested Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from the Ayodhya constituency. 1998, he was elected to the Lok Sabha and subsequently made MoS Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the Vajpayee government. He was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2016. He became MoS Minority Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs in 2014 in the Modi government. After the resignation of Najma Heptulla in July 2016, he got independent charge of the Ministry. Naqvi is the most prominent Muslim face in the Modi government.
3. Nirmala Sitharaman: Defence Minister
Sitharaman began her political journey as a spokesperson for Bharatiya Janata Party. Born in 1959, Sitharaman hails from Madurai in Tamil Nadu. She completed her M.Phil in Economics from Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. As a professional, she served various UK-based organisations like Agricultural Engineers Association, PricewaterhouseCoopers and BBC World Service. After returning to India, she worked as a deputy director of the Centre for Public Policy Studies in Hyderabad. She was also a member of the National Commission for Women from 2003-2005. Sitharaman was made a member of the party's National Executive. After BJP came to power in 2014, she was made MoS Finance and Corporate Affairs. She also held the independent charge of Commerce and Industry Ministry.
4. Piyush Goyal: Railways and Coal Minister
Before his promotion, Goyal served as MoS (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines. Presently, he is a member of Rajya Sabha. Goyal had earlier held the position of National Treasurer of BJP. He has been consistently brilliant in academics. He holds an all-India second rank in Chartered Accountancy and also in Law in Mumbai University. Goyal has been an eminent investment banker, having advised top banking professionals on growth and management strategy. The 53-year-old also worked with the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda. His elevation in PM Modi's Cabinet reshuffle comes after his exceptional performance. Goyal has been credited for implementing major power and coal sector reforms. He was instrumental in the record electrification of the rural areas.
