POLITICS// Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejigged his council of ministers on July 5, inducting 19 new ministers in an exercise aimed both at pleasing voters in states headed for elections next year as well as speeding up efforts to boost economic growth. He also dropped five ministers. Smriti Irani was removed as the HRD minister, with Prakash Javadekar being given the post. Irani has been given the textiles ministry.

There is consensus that with the expansion-turned-reshuffle of his Council of Ministers, Modi has emphatically demonstrated his message, loud and clear: A result-oriented government. Prakash Javadekar was given a promotion from minister of state to Cabinet minister. He was promoted but his portfolio was changed. He has been made minister for education. The new minister for environment, forests and climate change is Anil Madhav Dave. He is not of Cabinet rank but a minister of state. Deciding not to leave the functions of junior ministers to their Cabinet seniors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided that he will take the call on allocation of business among Ministers of State. Modi's cabinet has now swelled to 78 ministers – one of the biggest in years and a far cry from Modi's 2014 election promise of “minimum government and maximum governance.”