Arjun Munda becomes new Union Agri Min, tribal leader gets key task
Senior BJP leader and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda has been given the responsibility of key Agriculture Ministry. After the resignation of BJP MPs who won the assembly elections, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State for Water Power and Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel and Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh resigned from the cabinet. President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday accepted the resignations of the three ministers with immediate effect.
Senior BJP leader and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda has been given the responsibility of key Agriculture Ministry. After the resignation of BJP MPs who won the assembly elections, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State for Water Power and Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel and Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh resigned from the cabinet. President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday accepted the resignations of the three ministers with immediate effect.
The President has assigned the charge of Agriculture Ministry to Cabinet Minister Arjun Munda, Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje to the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Minister of State Rajiv Chandrashekhar to the Ministry of Jal Shakti and Minister of State Dr. Bharati Praveen Pawar to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Munda assumed charge of the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.
After the resignation from the Union Cabinet, discussions have intensified regarding the political future of Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel and Renuka Singh. Even five days after the declaration of assembly election results, there is suspense regarding the name of the Chief Minister in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Tomar and Patel are in the race for the post of Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and Renuka Singh of Chhattisgarh. By giving big responsibility to Renuka Singh in Chhattisgarh, BJP can send a strong message by making a tribal woman the Chief Minister.
By giving the charge of Agriculture Ministry to Munda, BJP has taken the tribal face forward. BJP can give a similar message in Chhattisgarh also. If this happens, Renuka Singh will be the first tribal woman Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh.
Munda has been the Chief Minister of Jharkhand three times and is a prominent tribal leader of the BJP. In view of the assembly elections to be held in Jharkhand next year, it is significant for Munda to get the responsibility of Agriculture Ministry.
Munda, who started his political career with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, joined BJP in the year 2000. After the formation of a separate Jharkhand state, he served as a minister in the Babural Marandi government and became the second Chief Minister of Jharkhand in 2003 at the age of 35. In 2005, he again became the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. After this, in 2010 he again got a chance to become the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. In 2014, NDA returned to Jharkhand with a clear majority but Munda lost the assembly elections.
