Cabinet Reshuffle: Anurag Thakur is the Minister of State for Finance.
In a mega cabinet reshuffle that will see several new faces in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, ministers seen to be high performers are set to be promoted.
Among likely names up for elevation are Kiren Rijiju, Anurag Thakur, Hardeep Singh Puri, Purshottam Rupala, Manush Mandavya and GK Reddy. A few of them were seen at PM Modi's residence along with would-be ministers to be sworn in later today.
Kiren Rijiju is the Minister of State for Sports and Hardeep Puri is in charge of aviation.
Anurag Thakur, an MP from Himachal Pradesh, is the Minister of State for Finance.
GK Reddy is junior minister for Home Affairs and Purshottam Rupala is Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Agriculture and Farmers' welfare.
The Union Cabinet, which can have 81 members, currently has 52 ministers. This means 29 ministers can be added.
In the weeks leading up to the reset, PM Modi, along with top leaders like Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda, reviewed the performance of ministers.
Others who met PM Modi included Narayan Rane, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Bhatt, Bhupender Yadav, Shobha Karandlaje, Pritam Munde and Meenakshi Lekhi, Pashupati Paras (Lok Janshakti Party) and Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal).
This is the first revamp of the Council of Ministers since PM Modi started his second term in May 2019.
The prime minister is expected to bring in younger faces and give more representation to OBCs and other groups and regions.