Cabinet reshuffle: Suresh Prabhu bids farewell to railway ministry, takes charge as Minister of Commerce

New Delhi: Suresh Prabhu bade farewell to the Ministry of Railways and moved on to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, after Piyush Goyal was given charge of the crucial portfolio which runs the transport behemoth.

Soon after the oath ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan ended where Goyal and three other Ministers of State were elevated to the cabinet rank and nine new faces inducted into the council of ministers, Prabhu tweeted indicating his exit.

Thanks to all 13 Lacs+ rail family for their support,love,goodwill.I will always cherish these memories with me.Wishing u all a great life

— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) September 3, 2017

In the reshuffle of the Council of Ministers, Prabhu was shifted from the Railways to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, while Goyal was made the Railway Minister and also given the task of handling the Coal portfolio as well.

Prabhu, who had taken moral responsibility of the slew of accidents last month and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering his resignation, was not attending his Rail Bhavan office since 23 August. He was also not attending any function of the ministry since then.

However, he had attended a BJP rally in Goa recently as well as the ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi’ event of the party. Prabhu had also remained absent when the railway ministry inked two agreements with Switzerland earlier this week and called off several media conferences where he was to speak.

Wishing the fresh inductees to the Council of Ministers, Prabhu said “Congrats to all members of #TeamModi for new responsibility. Making our country better is our common mission.”

He also applauded Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Dharmendra Pradhan, Nirmala Sitharaman and Goyal for their elevation as members of the Union Cabinet.

Making our great country greater is our shared goal&combined responsibility We all shall endeavour #leadership @narendramodi #NewIndia

— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) September 3, 2017

On 19 August, 23 people were killed and over 200 injured when 13 coaches of the train came off the tracks in Khatauli, near Muzaffarnagar. On August 23, 10 coaches of the Kaifiyat Express heading towards Delhi derailed after colliding with a dumper, again in Uttar Pradesh.