With two-and-a-half-years remaining in PM Modi's second term, the Union Cabinet got a major reshuffle on Wednesday, 7 July.
While 12 heavyweights including Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, and I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar were left out of the new Cabinet, 43 new ministers were sworn-in.
But not all of them are fresh faces. Seven junior ministers including Kiren Rijiju, Anurag Thakur, Hardeep Singh Puri, Mansukh Mandaviya got promoted in this rejig. In fact, the crucial Health Ministry went to Mandaviya, amid a severe criticism of the government's mishandling of the second wave of COVID and vaccination shortages in the country, while the Law Ministry went to Rijiju.