BJP MP Anurag Singh Thakur was on Wednesday sworn in as a Cabinet minister and been given the charge of Information and Broadcasting Ministry as well as the portfolio of the Youth Affairs and Sports ministry.
The 46-year-old MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh was among the 15 new Cabinet ministers who took oath in the first major rejig and expansion of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government after it returned to power for a second term in May 2019.
The development comes just a fortnight before the Tokyo Olympics begins on July 23. Thakur as been made the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports replacing Kiran Rijiju who has been elevated to Union Minister of Law and Justice.
Thakur was inducted into the Modi government in 2019 and was given the portfolios of the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs.
The development also comes ahead of next year's Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh.
Thakur was first elected to Lok Sabha in May 2008 in a by-poll as a candidate of BJP. Thakur was also elected to 14th, 15th and 16th Lok Sabha.
Thakur along with six Ministers of State (MoS) have been promoted as Union Cabinet Ministers today. These include G Kishan Reddy, Kiren Rijiju, Hardeep Singh Puri, Raj Kumar Singh, Parshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya.
Some of the key figures inducted into PM Modi's cabinet include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bhupender Yadav, Sarbananda Sonowal and Pashupati Kumar Paras.
In today's reshuffle and expansion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Council of Ministers, a total of 43 political leaders were sworn in as Union ministers, and some have been elevated as cabinet ministers.
The new ministers, including 15 Cabinet ministers and 28 Ministers of State took oath at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presence of the Prime Minister and senior BJP leaders.
Meanwhile, a number of ministers including Dr Harsh Vardhan, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar resigned.
( With inputs from ANI )
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