Modi shuffles Cabinet: Sitharaman new defence minister; Goyal gets railways

Nirmala Sitharaman was on Sunday promoted and appointed as India's Defence Minister in a surprise move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who elevated three others to the Cabinet and brought in nine new faces, including four former bureaucrats, in a reshuffle-cum-expansion of his ministry based on performance.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal, also promoted from Minister of State with independent charge to the Cabinet, got the railways portfolio, from which Suresh Prabhu was shifted to Commerce and Industry that was with Sitharaman. Prabhu had offered to quit after a major rail accident in Uttar Pradesh claimed 23 lives last month.

The promoted ministers and the new faces were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a 35-minute ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, attended among others by new Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and family members of some of the new ministers.

Sitharaman became the second woman to head the Defence Ministry after Indira Gandhi when she was Prime Minister. The Defence Ministry was with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
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