Three ministers from northeast in Modi's new Union cabinet | Guwahati News - Times of India

Source: The Times of India
Author: Kangkan Kalita

Guwahati: Three ministers, including cabinet ones, from the northeast were inducted into the newly formed Prime Minister Narendra Modi govt 3.0 in New Delhi on Sunday. Among the trio are Sarbananda Sonowal and Kiren Rijiju, who have been re-inducted in the ministry as cabinet ministers. In a surprising twist, senior BJP leader from Assam and Rajya Sabha MP, Pabitra Margherita, has also been appointed as an MOS.

Former Assam CM Sonowal, who hails from Dibrugarh, secured his Lok Sabha seat by defeating his nearest rival, Congress-backed Lurinjyoti Gogoi of Assam Jatiya Parishad.He won by a significant margin of about 2.8 lakh votes. Rijiju, on the other hand, defeated former CM and Arunachal Pradesh PCC president Nabam Tuki by over one lakh votes.

In the previous Modi govt, Sonowal was the Union minister for ports, shipping, waterways and Ayush, while Rijiju held the post of minister for earth sciences. Meanwhile, sitting MPs R K Ranjan Singh, Pratima Bhowmik and Rameswar Teli -- all from the NE, who were also ministers of state in the previous administration, missed the bus after they were benched by the party from contesting the election.

Reaffirming his faith in the Modi govt, Sonowal said, "On this historic occasion, when Narendra Modi ji-led NDA is set to form the third consecutive govt at the Centre, I want to especially thank the people of the Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency for bestowing their love, faith, trust and blessings on me to represent them in the highest temple of democracy."

He added, "Due to the unprecedented development achieved in the country during the 10 years of good governance under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, the confidence and trust of the people in Modi ji's leadership remains strong."