12 ministers resign ahead of Union Cabinet expansion amid row over Covid-19 response, IT war

The first ever reshuffle-cum-expansion of the Council of Ministers of Modi 2.0 is expected to see the inclusion of several senior leaders

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday showed the exit door to prominent ministers – Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsh Vardhan, Sadananda Gowda and Prakash Javadekar – who had served in the government for the past seven years.

Besides the four long-serving ministers, eight others also put in their resignations, including Thaawarchand Gehlot, who was appointed as the Karnataka Governor.

The high-profile resignations came amid a rash of criticism of the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the bruised image of the Modi government over a range of issues, including economic slowdown and a running battle with social media giants such as Twitter.

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It remains to be seen how many of the 11 shown the exit door get fresh tasks in the organisation or gubernatorial responsibilities.

While performance was the key criteria set by the Prime Minister, several ministerial exits were learnt to be on health grounds.

Prasad, the government's face for the media, handled portfolios of Law and Justice, Electronics and Information Technology, and Communications, while Vardhan was in charge of the Health, which was tasked with crafting the government response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Prasad was instrumental in changing the rules that required the IT firms to remove and identify the “first originator” of posts that could be seen as undermining the sovereignty, national security or public order.

Social media companies claimed that the rules were vague and that they could be forced to identify the authors of posts critical of the government.

Some social media companies had moved court over the grievances over the new rules.

Javadekar handled the sensitive portfolios of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Information & Broadcasting, and Heavy Industries, while Gowda was in charge of Chemicals and Fertilisers.

Also read: Modi 2.0 Cabinet to go for a major rejig on July 7; performance, alliance on radar

Another surprise exit was that of Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' who is learnt to have quit on health grounds, having contracted Covid-19 and was battling post-Covid complications. Modi was learnt to have been unhappy at the pace of work in the crucial ministry.

Key appointments in the Education Ministry have been pending, particularly that of Vice-Chancellors to central universities and Directors of IITs. Major decisions related to the ministry such as the cancellation of the CBSE exams for Class 10 and 12 were taken by the Prime Minister and not by the education minister.

Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar, who also served in the Vajpayee government, Ministers of States Sanjay Dhotre (Education & IT), Debasree Chaudhuri (Women & Child Development), Rattan Lal Kataria (Jal Shakti) and Babul Supriyo (Environment) also resigned.

Gangwar, an eight-term member of Lok Sabha, had recently criticised the performance of the Yogi Adityanath government over the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.