Cabinet Reshuffle: From Jyotiraditya Scindia to Narayan Rane, turncoats sworn into Union Cabinet

The Central Government of India will soon have new faces leading different ministries. The cabinet is going to reshuffle for the first time since 2019 when the Narendra Modi-led government was formed for the second time after 2014. With Health Minister Harsh Vardhan submitting his resignation today, other ministers including Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar have also stepped down ahead of the reshuffle. Some politicians who joined the party after years of staying in opposition parties were rewarded with ministries. Here are the profiles of political turncoats got a berth in the new cabinet: Jyotiraditya Scindia: Before the Madhya Pradesh leader joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in March 2020, he was a member of the Congress party for almost two decades. Scindia’s departure came as a shock because he was a prominent Congress leader and was made a minister in the Manmohan Singh cabinet. Fighting from the Congress ticket, he was elected to the parliament four times. His meeting with the PM has created speculations that Scindia might get a ministry in the cabinet reshuffle. Kapil Moreshwar Patil: The politician joined BJP in 2014. Until then, he was a member of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party. Patil became an MP in 2014 for the first from Maharashtra’s Bhiwandi. He also won the General elections in 2019 from the same constituency. Patil is also the vice-president of Maharashtra BJP since July, 2020. SP Singh Baghel: Former member of the Samajwadi Party, Baghel joined BJP and won the 2017 UP assembly elections. He was also a member of Rajya Sabha between 2010 and 2016 from Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party. Baghel was also a security officer of former UP CM Mulayam Singh Yadav. Nishith Pramanik: The West Bengal politician joined BJP in 2019 and was formerly a member of Trinamool Congress (TMC). He became an MP from Cooch Behar in the 2019 general elections. In the recent meeting with PM Modi, Pramanik was also present with other leaders. Narayan Rane: The leader joined BJP in 2019 and merged his own outfit Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha with the party. Starting his political career with the Shiv Sena, Rane served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for a few months in 1999. He then moved on to the Congress party and served as a minister in the state government.