Sonowal waiting for 'auspicious day' to take charge as Minister in PM Modi's new cabinet

Newly-inducted Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; and the Minister of AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal did not take charge on Thursday as he is waiting for an 'auspicious day'.

According to the sources, the former Assam Chief Minister is waiting for an 'auspicious day' to take charge and that day could be the coming Sunday.

However, Sonowal has officially started the business of the ministry. He held a preliminary meeting with the senior officials of the Ministry of Port, Shipping and Waterways.

"Held a preliminary meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Port, Shipping and Waterwaysin New Delhi and took an overview of the Ministry," tweeted Sonowal.

Almost all the newly-inducted ministers have taken the charges on Thursday in their respective ministry.

Sarbananda Sonowal took the oath as Union Cabinet Minister Wednesday. Later, he met the Chief Minister of his state Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma in the national capital.

As many as 43 leaders took oath on Wednesday in the first Union Cabinet reshuffle and expansion after Prime Minister Modi returned to power for a second term in May 2019.

The swearing-in ceremony, which took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan amid COVID-19 protocols, came days ahead of the monsoon session of parliament.

Some of the key figures inducted into Union cabinet include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bhupender Yadav, Sarbananda Sonowal and Pashupati Kumar Paras.

Seven women MPs took oath as union ministers in the expanded council of ministers.They include Anupriya Patel, Shobha Karandlaje, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi, Annapurna Devi, Pratima Bhoumik and Bharati Pravin Pawar.

Meanwhile, seven Ministers of State (MoS) have been promoted as Union Cabinet Ministers.

Former MoS G Kishan Reddy, Kiren Rijiju, Anurag Singh Thakur, Hardeep Singh Puri, Raj Kumar Singh, Parshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya took oath on July 7.

( With inputs from ANI )