New Delhi: BJP heavyweight Rajnath Singh was on Tuesday appointed the Home Minister and Sushma Swaraj the External Affairs Minister while Arun Jaitley was given Finance with defence as additional charge as Prime Minister Narendra Modi effected a major restructuring of the cabinet to ensure synergy and efficiency.
A day after being sworn-in at the head of a 45-member coalition government, Modi distributed portfolios giving the Ministries of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways to Nitin Gadkari in the experiment combining 17 related ministries under seven different ministers.
The restructuring, which Modi had on Sunday described as a convergence of activities under one cabinet minister heading a cluster of ministries in complementary sectors, also brought back Corporate Affairs Ministry to Finance headed by Jaitley. He clubbed together Overseas Affairs Ministry with External Affairs and brought Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation in one group that has been given to another BJP veteran Venkaiah Naidu. (PTI)