The much anticipated Union Cabinet reshuffle took place on 7th July 2021, Wednesday.
Thirty-six new ministers joined the government in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mega cabinet reshuffle.
Among the thirty-six ministers, five were from the North-east. The Indian Cabinet has seen such a large hold of North-eastern representatives in the Union Cabinet for the first time in history. Let us get a pulse of the five highlanders who will be a part of the Central Cabinet from the North-east.
1.Sarbananda Sonowal – Sarbananda Sonowal was born on October 31,1962 in Dibrugarh, Assam .Sonowal completed his graduation in English from Kanoi College Dibrugarh. After completing his graduation Sonowal moved to Guwahati and pursued LLB from Gauhati University.
Sarbananda Sonowal served as the President of All Assam Students Union (AASU) from 1992-1999. Further, Sonowal joined Asom Gana Parisad and fought his first election from Moran constituency in 2001. He obtained victory in the election and became an MLA for the first time.
In 2004 Lok Sabha elections Sonowal was given a ticket from Dibrugarh Constituency , where he served as an MP for the years 2004-2009. Sonowal lost the elections from the same seat in 2009 and he quit the party in 2011.
In the same year Sarbananda joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and in 2012 he was given the responsibility of Pradesh President of BJP
Sonowal won the elections from Lakhimpur Lok Sabha Constituency in the year 2014 and was made MOS for sports (Independent Charge) in the 1st term of the Modi Government.
In 2016 he became the 1st CM of BJP government in Assam. He completed a successful tenure and helped BJP come back to power in the state.
After the results of the Assam assembly elections 2021, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma was Sonowal’s successor as Assam’s Chief Minister. Sonowal without hesitation abandoned his position for Sarma. He gained widespread support for this selfless gesture. Now Sonowal is appointed as a cabinet minister of Ports, Shipping, Waterways and Ayush Ministry, in Modi’s second term.
2. Kiren Rijiju – Kiren Rijiju was born on November 19, 1971 near Nafra in West Kameng district of Arunachal District. Rijiju was an active social worker since his school days and he led various social movements as a student leader. Rijiju is a graduate from Hansraj College,University of Delhi and he also holds a degree in law.
Kiren Rijiju made his political debut in the year 2004 and he became a member of Parliament from Arunachal West as a BJP member. During the term of parliament from 2004-2009 he was one of the best opposition MP’s. He took active part in debates,discussions and decorum etc.At that time he was chosen as the best young MP by many national channels and magazines. Rijiju fought the election in 2009 as well but remained unsuccessful that time.
In 2014 Rijuju won the elections again from Arunachal West Constituency and was inducted in the cabinet of 1st Modi led government as Minister of States home affairs.
In 2019 Rijiju got elected again from the same seat and was made Minister of State (Independent Charge) for sports and youth affairs.
Now,in the first cabinet reshuffle of the Modi government’s second term he got promoted as a cabinet minister and was given charge of the law department.
3. Rameshwar Teli – Rameshwar Teli was born on August 14, 1970 in Duliajan, Assam. He comes from the tea-garden community of Assam. He was a local leader of All Assam Tea Tribe Association (AATTSA). He was elected as an MLA of Duliajan Constituency first in 2001 and then in 2006 on the BJP ticket. He lost the elections in 2011.
In 2014 he was elected as a member of Parliament for the 1st time from Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency. In 2019 he was elected as an MP for the second time and was given charge of Food Processing department (MOS). In the recent reshuffle of Modi’s cabinet he was given additional charge of the Petroleum Ministry(MOS).
4. DR Rajkumar Ranjan Singh – Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh popularly known as RK Ranjan was born on September 1, 1952 in Manipur’s Nandeibam leikai village. He is a graduate from Imphal’s Dhana Manjuri College and later on earned his master degree from GauhatiUniversity he got a PhD on “problems of land-use “in Manipur.
In 2013 Dr. Singh joined BJP and contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 but remained unsuccessful. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Polls he was elected as a member of Parliament from Inner Manipur parliamentary Constituency.
On July 7, 2021 Dr. Singh was appointed as the minister of External Affairs and Education (MOS).
5. Pratima Bhoumik – Pratima Bhoumik was born on May 28, 1969 in Barnarayan,Sepahijala district,Tripura,India . Smt Bhoumik is a graduate in bio-science from Women College, Agartala, under Tripura University.
The fifty-two years old Pratima Bhoumik, popularly known as ‘pratima di’ scripted history by becoming the only politician from Tripura to be sworn in as minister in Modi cabinet. Bhoumik is a Lok Sabha MP from Tripura West she also served as the vice-president in the state BJP and relinquished the post after being elected as an MP in 2019. On Thursday she got the charge of Social Justice and Empowerment department (MOS) in the reshuffle of the Modi Cabinet.
