Nadda replaces Harsh Vardhan as health minister

In a surprise move, Harsh Vardhan was Sunday replaced by senior BJP leader Jagat Prakash Nadda as the union health minister.

Nadda was earlier in the day sworn in as a cabinet minister by President Pranab Mukherjee in the Narendra Modi government's first cabinet expansion.

Health would also have an additional minister in Sripad Yasso Naik who would have independent charge of Ayush (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddhi and homeopathy) department. Ayurveda is a pet subject of Modi, who Sunday said it can acquire global recognition, like yoga, if it is presented in the right spirit and as a way of life.

Harsh Vardhan would be the new science and technology and earth sciences minister.

The removal of Harsh Vardhan, a medical doctor by profession, came as a surprise to many.

The MP from Delhi's Chandni Chowk, officiated as the health minister at an event on alternate medicine earlier this evening where Modi was also present.

As a health minister in Delhi, Harsh Vardhan in 1994 oversaw the successful implementation of the pilot project of the Pulse Polio Programme which involved the mass immunisation of one million children up to the age of 3 years.

Speculation was rife that the change in Harsh Vardhan's portfolio comes ahead of the Delhi assembly elections likely to be held early next year where he might be declared as the chief ministerial candidate of the BJP.