Harsh Vardhan, Rao Inderjit, V K Singh, Krishan Pal take oath as ministers

New Delhi: Chandni Chowk MP Harsh Vardhan was on Thursday sworn in as a Cabinet Minister for the second time in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's NDA government at Rashtrapati Bhawan, alongside the 56 other ministers who will begin their terms under the Modi 2.0 government. In addition to Vardhan, MPs from around the Capital city who will get a seat at the table include Rao Inderjit Singh (Gurugram), V K Singh (Ghaziabad), and Krishan Pal Gurjar (Faridabad).

With Vardhan retaining his place in Modi's Union Cabinet, Inderjit Singh will be a Minister of State with Independent Charge, while V K Singh and Gurjar will both be Ministers of State. However, Gautam Buddh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma was dropped out of the council of ministers this year.

In the previous NDA government, Vardhan held the portfolio of the Ministry of Science and Technology along with two other ministries - Ministry of Earth Sciences and Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change. Inderjit was Minister of State with Independent Charge for Statistics and Programme Implementation along with two other independent charges such as MoS for Planning and Chemical and Fertilizers. V K Singh was MoS for External Affairs, whereas Krishan Pal Gurjar was MoS for Social Justice and Empowerment.

Vardhan had brought a massive victory for the BJP by defeating veteran Congress leader JP Agarwal by a margin of more than three lakh votes in the Lok Sabha polls this year, despite reports that the grand old party might put up a tough fight in 2019. The Chandni Chowk MP began his work in legislation when he was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Delhi in 1993 from Krishna Nagar assembly segment.

He sunsequently helmed the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Health in the Government of Delhi after the 1993 polls. He launched the Polio Eradication Plan in October 1994, as Health Minister and under his leadership the Delhi Prohibition of Smoking Act and the Non-Smokers Health Protection Act were passed in 1997. This eventually led to central legislation that banned smoking in public places in 2002.