Pradhan, Goyal, Sitharaman, Naqvi elevated to Cabinet rank in Modi govt

President Ram Nath Kovind administers oath of office along with 9 new ministers

In a reward for their performance in the Narendra Modi government, Ministers of State for Petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan, Ministers of State for Power and New & Renewable EnergyPiyush Goyal, Ministers of State for Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, and Ministers of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were on Sunday elevated as Cabinet ministers.
 
The four ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

According to television reports, the Cabinet reshuffle could see Piyush Goyal getting the key railway ministry. He might replace Suresh Prabhu, who received flak for a number of train accidents during his tenure as the Union railway minister. Prabhu on Sunday bid goodbye to his ministry through a post on microblogging site Twitter.

Thanks to all 13 Lacs+ rail family for their support,love,goodwill.I will always cherish these memories with me.Wishing u all a great life

— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) September 3, 2017

Also, TV reports suggested, citing unofficial sources, that Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley could retain both his portfolios.

The new inductees into the Modi government who were sworn in on Sunday were Shiv Pratap Shukla, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Virendra Kumar, Anantkumar Hegde, Raj Kumar Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Satya Pal Singh, and Alphons Kannanthanam.

Watch the full swearing-in ceremony here: