Cabinet Reshuffle: Women representation in Narendra Modi ministry goes upto 8

New Delhi, Nov 9: First time Uttar Pradesh MP Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti is the lone woman face in today's expansion of the Union Cabinet which took the total representation of the fairer sex to eight.

47-year-old Jyoti is a religious preacher and won the Lok Sabha polls from Fatehpur constituency. She has been inducted as Minister of State.

Seven women ministers including six with Cabinet rank were included in the Council of Ministers in May. The Women Cabinet Ministers are Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti, Najma Heptulla, Maneka Gandhi, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Smriti Zubin Irani.

Nirmala Sitharaman is a Minister of State with Independent Charge. Incidentally, both the youngest and the oldest members in the Modi cabinet also happens to be women -Smriti and Najma.

With today's expansion, the number of ministers in the Modi cabinet has gone up to 66.

A total of 21 Ministers were inducted today including four Cabinet rank and three Minister of States with Independent charge.

PTI