With the first expansion in the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, there will be five Ministers from the minority community in all — one Muslim, one Sikh, two Buddhists and one Christian.
While Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi represents the Muslim community, Hardeep Singh Puri is a Sikh, John Barla is from tribal Christian community, Minister of State of Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale and Kiren Rijiju are both Buddhists. Rijiju practices Tibetan Buddhism.
Both Puri and Rijiju have been elevated to the Cabinet rank and Barla has been inducted in the expanded council of ministers. Puri was Minister of State (Independent Charge) for civil aviation and housing and urban affairs, Rijiju was in the same rank in the ministry of youth affairs and sports.
Naqvi is already holding Cabinet rank in the minority affairs ministry.
Barla, 45, is a first term Lok Sabha MP from Alipurduars in West Bengal. He comes from a humble background who had started off as a tea garden worker and has worked tirelessly for the rights of the teagarden workers, according to the profile circulated by the government.
Rijiju’s elevation could be a pointer that the
rhetoric on China could be a major plank during the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh early next year, according to political analysts.