President corrects Dharmendra Pradhan at swearing-in

Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday could not properly pronounce "sansoochit" during the oath-taking ceremony and was quickly corrected by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Pradhan, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, started reading out the oath of office and secrecy in HIndi with incorrect word "samuchit". The President corrected him, saying "sansoochit, please".

"Apratyaksha roop se sansoochit nahi karoonga," the President said, telling Pradhan the correct pronunciation.

Pradhan paused for a moment and corrected himself, saying "Pratyaksha roop se sansoochit ya prakat nahi karoonga" and completed his oath-taking.

Pradhan along with three other Ministers of State holding independent charge -- Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi -- were promoted to the cabinet rank in a reshuffle and expansion of the council of ministers.

Nine others, including former diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri, were made Ministers of State.

This was the third reshuffle to fill key vacancies and bring in new faces keeping in mind key state elections and eventually the 2019 general elections.

--IANS

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