This is the first Cabinet reshuffle since Modi assumed a second term in office in May 2019, the Press Trust of India news agency indicated.

India’s President Ram Nath Kovind collected the oaths at a ceremony arranged at his official residence at Rashtrapati Bhavan under Covid-19 protocols, All India Radio detailed.

The swearing-in was also attended by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) president J P Nadda.

The broadening of the executive is a balance of young and experienced leaders, the source referred.

Some 14 ministers are under the age of 50, and there are many leaders with central government experience and 23 who were elected three or more times to Parliament.

Prior to the Cabinet expansion, 12 members of the previous Council of Ministers had resigned from office.

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