New Delhi: Major Reshuffle in PM Modi's Cabinet

In a major reshuffle, the PM Modi dispensation has now appointed S P Singh Baghel as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Shri Baghel, 62, has taken charge as the MoS Health today and also met the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in Delhi. He was moved from the Union law ministry to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

Before Baghel, the MoS Health was Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar who held the charge since July 2021 when the country was hit by the second COVID-19 wave.

After taking charge in the presence of Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, SP Singh Baghel interacted with the media and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bestowing his trust in him. He also assured the people that he will fulfil all the expectations and do the needful.

“I would like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the expectations, hopes and aspirations that he has given me this new responsibility. I will stand up to what is expected of me with the full support of Mansukh Mandaviya, my colleague Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar and department officials,” said SP Singh Baghel.

This reshuffle came hours after Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju was shifted to the post of the Minister of Earth Sciences while Arun Ram Meghwal took charge of the Law Ministry.

"The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has been pleased to direct that Prof SP Singh Baghel, Minister of State be assigned as Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in place of Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice," a communique from Rashtrapati Bhawan said on Thursday, quotes ANI.

According to the convention, a ministry headed by a Minister of State with independent charge does not have a deputy.

Who is SP Singh Baghel?

Baghel is a leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). SP Singh Baghel was born on 21 June 1960 in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah district.

• He has a bachelor of law degree, a master’s degree in science, and a doctoral degree.
• He has done his education from Maharaja Jiwaji Rao University in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior and also attended the Meerut University in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
• He was elected to the 17th Lok Sabha from Agra on a BJP ticket. Before joining the BJP, he was a member of the Samajwadi Party.
• In 2017, he became a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In 2015, he became the president of the BJP OBC Morcha.
• In the 2017 UP Assembly polls, the BJP gave Baghel a ticket from the Scheduled Caste (SC)-reserved Tundla seat in Firozabad district. Baghel won that election and was inducted into the Yogi Adityanath government as the Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Minor Irrigation and Underground Water. He stepped down after getting elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019. In 2021, PM Modi inducted him into his ministry.
• In the 2022 UP Assembly polls, the BJP fielded Baghel against Akhilesh Yadav from Karhal, but he lost the election by 67,504 votes.