Cabinet reshuffle: Jyotiraditya Scindia new Civil Aviation Minister

Newly inducted Cabinet minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who switched from Congress to BJP last year, has been given the portfolio of Civil Aviation Ministry.

The Rajya Sabha MP will replace Hardeep Singh Puri, who has been elevated as the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and will also hold the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

Scindia, a five-time MP had under the Congress-led UPA I government been the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology and in the UPA II government served as the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.

Scindia was among the two former Congress leaders who have found a place in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new Cabinet. Former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane was the other Congress leader who had switched to the BJP.

Scindia played a key role in BJP's return to power in Madhya Pradesh last year after Congress ruled the state for 15-months.

Twenty-two MLAs loyal to Scindia had resigned triggering a crisis in the Kamal Nath government.

Articulate and charismatic, Scindia,50, is a Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh. He was the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry in the UPA-II government between 2009 and 2012. Scindia was Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Power between 2012 and 2014.

Belonging to Gwalior royal family, Scindia was first elected to Lok Sabha from Guna in 2002 after his father Madhavrao Scindia died in an aeroplane crash.

Madhavrao Scindia was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1971 at the age of 26 and went on to win nine consecutive elections from the Gwalior and Guna constituencies.

Jyotirdaditya Scindia suffered a shocking defeat from Guna parliamentary seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He has been president of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association. The BJP leader has an MBA from Stanford University and BA from Harvard University.

( With inputs from ANI )