Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to have told his newly inducted ministers to start preparing for the upcoming Monsoon Session, beginning July 18.
India Today quoted sources as saying that PM Modi supposedly told them not to celebrate too much and focus on the Parliament.
At the same time, he also asked them to visit their constituencies after August 15 when the session will be over.
PM Modi met them for tea in his office.
"When I became the PM, for the first four months I learned my work with utmost sincerity. The work of a MoS is very crucial in this government. That's why you all should perform your work with speed," Modi is reported to have told the new minister, as quoted by India Today.
The PM was further quoted them as saying, "Whenever the need be, please contact me directly. I am going on a foreign tour for four days. Till then, you can take charge of your respective ministries."
17 new faces including BJP leaders SS Ahluwalia, and MJ Akbar and allies Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal and Ramdas Athawale of RPI were today inducted along with two old hands Vijay Goel and Faggan Kulaste into the Modi government in expansion and reshuffle in which five were dropped and Environment Minister Prakash Javedekar was elevated to the Cabinet.
The second exercise by PM Modi in little more than two years since he took over in May 2014 saw a number a Dalit and OBC leaders being given ministerial positions done apparently with an eye on assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand next year and Gujarat later.
Javadekar, who held independent charge of Environment, was the lone minister to be promoted to the cabinet rank while all new inductees took oath as Ministers of State.
Earlier, there was speculation that Power Minister Piyush Goel and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be elevated to the Cabinet, as per PTI.
Ajay Tamta (Uttarakhand), Arjun Ram Meghwal (Rajasthan), Krishna Raj (UP), Athawale (Maharashtra), Ramesh C Jigajinagi (Karnataka) were among the dalit MPs administered the oath of Office and Secrecy by President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhawan attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari, PM Modi, his Cabinet colleagues, BJP president Amit Shah and leaders allied parties among others. No Congress leader was present.
Others who were inducted included PP Chaudhary, CR Chaudhary (Rajasthan), AM Dave, Faggan Singh Kulaste (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendra Nath Pandey (UP), Purshotam Rupala, J Bhabhor and Mansukhbhai Mandaviya (Gujarat), Rajen Gohain (Assam) and S R Bhamre (Maharashtra).
Akbar was elected recently to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh while Goel represents Rajasthan in the Upper House. Ahluwalia was elected to Lok Sabha from Darjling while Anupriya Patel was elected from Mirzapur in UP.
Those dropped from the ministry are Nihalchand, Ram Shankar Katheria, Sanwar Lal Jat, Manuskhbhai D Vasava and M K Kundariya.
(With Agency inputs)
