New Delhi/ Bhubaneswar: A day after the swearing-in of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Council of Ministers, three Ministers from Odisha were allotted portfolios in the first Cabinet meeting Monday.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been allocated the Education Ministry. Ashwini Vaishnaw has been given charge of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting along with Ministry of Railways. Jual Oram has been retained as Minister of Tribal Affairs.
It can be mentioned here that BJP MP from Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency Dharmendra Pradhan, six-time MP from Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituency Jual Oram and Rajya Sabha MP Ashwini Vaishnaw took oath as cabinet ministers Sunday at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Pradhan (54), who has a Masters in Anthropology from Utkal University, was first elected as a member to the Fourteenth Lok Sabha between 2004 and 2009. Pradhan was elected to Rajya Sabha twice in 2012 and 2018.
He held several portfolios including Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Minister of Steel and Minister of Education between 2014 and 2024.
Pradhan, popularly known as ‘Ujjwala Man’, steered the Modi government’s flagship social programme, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawla Yojana, providing free cooking gas (LPG) connections to poor women.
He was considered a top contender for the post of first BJP Chief Minister of Odisha. Pradhan was also elected to Odisha state legislative assembly during 2000-2004.
Veteran BJP leader and a major tribal face of the party, Jual Oram also took oath as the Cabinet minister in the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
Oram was elected to the Lok Sabha six times between 1998 and 2024. He was the Tribal Affairs Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from October 1999 to May 2004 and the Modi government between 2014 and 2019.
Former Odisha cadre IAS officer and Rajya Sabha MP, Ashwini Vaishnaw has been allocated the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting along with the Ministry of Railways.
Vaishnaw was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha in June 2019. He is known to be very close to the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha.
The Rajasthan-born Vaishnaw was the Minister of Railways, Minister of Communications and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology during the previous Modi government.
PNN & Agencies