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In cabinet expansion, Modi aimed at expanding BJP’s outreach

While the BJP has focused on expanding its outreach among the OBCs in the state, Choubey’s induction in the government is seen as a balancing act by the party

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Among the nine new ministers, three are Brahmins — Shiv Pratap Shukla, Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Anant Kumar Hegde, two Rajputs, RK Singh and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, one Jat in Satyapal Singh, and inVirendra Kumar, a Dalit. Two others are from minority religions — Hardeep Puri, a Sikh and Alphons, a Christian.

The induction of Shukla, a Rajya Sabha member who does not enjoy the best of equations with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynanath, is seen as an attempt by the party to keep Brahmins, a faithful support base, in good humour.

While the BJP has focused on expanding its outreach among the OBCs in the state, Choubey’s induction in the government is seen as a balancing act by the party.

Alphons hails from Kerala, where the BJP has been working hard to emerge as a potent force.

Shiv Pratap Shukla
MOS, Finance

Shukla is a former Cabinet minister of the Uttar Pradesh government and is a Rajya Sabha MP. He began his RS stint last year and is currently serving as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development. The 65-year old has been allocated the post of Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Finance under Arun Jaitley. He will be joined by Pon Radhakrishnan, BJP’s sole Lok Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu, as the second MoS, Finance. He is a law graduate and forayed into politics as a student leader.

Ashwini Kumar Choubey
MoS, Health & Family Welfare

A Brahmin face from Bihar, Choubey is a Lok Sabha MP from Buxar in Bhojpur region. He is a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Estimates and Standing Committee on Energy. Along with former Home Secretary RK Singh, he is the second MP from Bihar to be inducted into the council of ministers in light of BJP and Janata Dal (United) alliance to form the Bihar government. Choubey has become a MoS in the Health Ministry under Jagat Prakash Nadda. He is a crucial choice in the run-up to the Lok Sabha 2019 polls as Bihar. Choubey has been elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly for five consecutive terms and served as a Cabinet minister in the state government for eight years.

Anantkumar Hegde
MoS, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship

At 49, Ananth Kumar Hegde, a Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka’s Uttar Kanada constituency is the youngest of the nine ministers, who took oath on Sunday. He has been entrusted with the job of MoS in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship under the new Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Hegde is only the second MP from Karnataka besides party senior Ananth Kumar, who is Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. His selection assumes significance because Karnataka is going to polls in 2018. Known to be a firebrand and controversial, Hegde is a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and Human Resource Development.

Raj Kumar Singh
MoS (Independent Charge), Power, and New & Renewable Energy

RK Singh’s rise has been to watch out for. As the former Home Secretary, Singh was at odds with the BJP and Sangh Parivar as he railed against Hindu extremist groups allegedly involved in the Samjhauta Express blast and Malegaon bomb blast. But soon after, he joined the BJP and won the Lok Sabha election from Arrah, Bihar. Incidentally, as a young IAS officer, he was tasked with the arrest of LK Advani during the Ram Mandir Rath Yatra. Singh also got a meaty portfolio as MoS, Power.

Satya Pal Singh
MoS, Human Resource Development; Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation

As a former IPS officer, Satya Pal Singh has served as Police Commissioner of Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur, and he opted for VRS while serving as Mumbai police chief, to join BJP. Singh fought the 2014 BJP elections from Baghpat against veteran Jat leader and former aviation minister Ajit Singh and won handsomely, pushing Ajit Singh to the third position. Singh received the President’s Police Medal for distinguished service in 2004 and President’s Police Medal for meritorious service in 1996. Singh has been allocated MoS in the HRD Ministry; and MoS in the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation.

Hardeep Singh Puri
MoS (Independent charge), Housing and Urban Affairs

Former UN envoy Hardeep Singh Puri has over four decades of diplomatic and bureaucratic experience. An IFS officer from the 1974 batch, known for his expertise on foreign policy, Puri had served as the Permanent Representative of India to Geneva, Permanent Representative at the United Nations, and ambassador to Brazil and UK. Between 2011 and 2013, as the head of the Indian delegation to the UN Security Council, Puri was one of the few Indians to have chaired the UN Security Council, and was the only Indian to chair the Security Council on Counter-Terrorism. Puri joined the BJP in 2014, and is said to be a long-time friend of Union Minister Arun Jaitley.

Virendra Kumar
MoS, Women & Child Development; Minority Affairs

Tikamgarh MP Virendra Singh is the lone Dalit face among the nine joining the Modi ministry. Singh started out as a mechanic in his father’s puncture shop. The six-time MP, has been associated with the RSS and the AVBP since his college days. In the 1970s, Singh was part of the Jayaprakash Narayan movement, and underwent jail term of over 16 months. He has served as the chairperson of the parliamentary standing committee on labour and as chairperson of the joint committee on the office of profit. He has also served as a member of the National Social Security Board, the parliamentary committee on Labour and Welfare, Welfare of SCs and STs, Privileges, Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
MoS, Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare

The induction of Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat  as the minister of state for agriculture and farmers’ welfare comes a few months ahead of the Assembly elections in Rajasthan. Shekhawat, a Rajput from Sikri, currently serves as the national general secretary of the BJP’s Kisan Morcha.  He is also the co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an RSS-affiliated economic organisation that promotes domestic trade, and is the general secretary of the Seema Jan Kalyan Samiti. In his constituency, Shekhawat build several schools in the Indo-Pak border across Rajasthan. Shekhawat is currently a member of the parliamentary standing committee on finance and is the chairperson of the fellowship committee.

Alphons Kannanthanam
MoS (Independent charge), Tourism;  Electronics & Information Technology

Alphons Kannanthanam has had an illustrious career as a bureaucrat for over two decades. In the ’90s, he earned the moniker of ‘Delhi’s Demolition Man’ for razing over 15,000 illegal buildings during his stint with the Delhi Development Authority. As the MoS in tourism, he will be working alongside Mahesh Sharma, who is currently the MoS (independent charge) for culture and tourism. Kannanthanam has also been made the MoS in electronics and information ministry, where he will work with cabinet minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. His induction is seen as BJP’s way to woo the Syrian Catholic community in Kerala ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

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