India’s Health Minister amongst those removed as Prime Minister Modi reshuffles his cabinet
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, removed 12 senior members of his cabinet on Wednesday. This comes as the government faces widespread criticism for its handling of the pandemic.
The Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan was one amongst many who resigned just hours before the cabinet reshuffle. Dr. Vardhan has been scrutinized for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In one clean sweep, you have senior ministers being removed,” journalists and political analyst Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay told the Associated Press. “The government has admitted by these changes that it has failed miserably in handling the pandemic as it should have.”
India has reported 400,00 coronavirus deaths, the third most of any country. Nearly half of these deaths occurred in the span of the last two months, largely accredited to the Delta variant that has spread through the country already in turmoil.
Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Law and Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar were also amongst the people who tendered their resignations.
Ravi Shankar Prasad was notably engaged in a battle with Twitter over India’s new internet regulations, described by digital activists as a potential blow to online speech and privacy.
Fifteen Cabinet ministers and 28 junior ministers were sworn in by President Kovind at a ceremony in the presidential palace on Wednesday. Eight junior ministers were promoted to Cabinet rank.
The portfolios of the new ministers were expected to be announced later Wednesday or Thursday.
Modi retained Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.