2 ex-Congress leaders - Rane & Scindia - take oath as Cabinet ministers

New Delhi, July 7 Two former Congress leaders ex-Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane and former minister in the UPA government Jyotiraditya Scindia were inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new-look Cabinet on Wednesday.

Rane had rebelled against the Congress for not being appointed the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, while Scindia had quit after being upset with the treatement meted out to him by the party in Madhya Pradesh, subsequently leading to the toppling of the state government.

Rane had also been in the Shiv Sena, but left to join the Congress before jumping ship to the BJP.

The official list released by the President's House said that 15 ministers took oath as Cabinet ministers on Wednesday, along with 28 others following a major rejig in the Union Cabinet.

Rane and Scindia are the only two former Congress faces who have been included in the new-look Union Cabinet.

Accordingly, Kiren Rijuju, Anurag Thakur, R.K. Singh, Hardeep Puri, Purshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandavya have been promoted as Cabinet ministers from their present ranks.

Businessmen Rajeev Chandrashekar, Anupriya Singh Patel and Meenakshi lekhi were sworn-in as Ministers of State.