Will perform our responsibilities with utmost sincerity: New Ministers pledge

The PM Modi government has announced a new Union Cabinet that has inducted 43 new faces, including 7 women and has more representation from socially and economically backward communities, administrative and legislative experience. Overall, there are 77 members in the new council of ministers, excluding the PM. ETV Bharat interacted with three new ministers - Sarbananda Sonowal, Pashupati Kumar Paras and Annapurna Devi Yadav.

New Delhi: Following his induction into the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, Sarbananda Sonowal said that he has got another opportunity to serve the people of the country. "I am thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inducting me into the Union Cabinet. I got another opportunity to serve my countrymen," said Sonowal hours after taking oath as a Cabinet minister. Sonowal has been appointed as the Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Minister of AYUSH. Earlier, Nitin Gadkari had served as the Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister, while Kiran Rijiju handled the Ministry of AYUSH.

"I will always try to fulfil the dreams and aspirations of the people of the northeast. Following my induction into the Union Cabinet, I will always perform my responsibilities with utmost sincerity" said Sonowal, asserting that PM Narendra Modi always gave importance to development. Sonowal had earlier served as the Sports and Youth Welfare Minister in the first term of the Modi Government. In 2016, he contested the Assam Assembly election, ensured the entry of the BJP in Assam and it was under his leadership that the BJP had formed the first State Government in the state.

Will make PM Modi's dream come true, I will live up to every expectation of the public: Annapurna Devi Yadav

Annapurna Devi Yadav, the BJP Lok Sabha MP from Koderma, Jharkhand, expressed her happiness on having been included in the Modi cabinet as MoS Ministry of Education. She thanked PM Modi and the entire BJP for having given her such a big responsibility. "I joined the BJP just prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the party gave me an MP ticket. I won the election, after that, I was made the National Vice President and now a minister in the central government. I thank the BJP high command and PM Modi for this. I will continue to work under the guidance of PM Modi. The voice of Jharkhand will now be heard louder in Delhi. I have become a minister at the Centre, so I will get the work done for faster development in Jharkhand and the state will get its due."

She said that becoming a member of the Modi cabinet is a big deal in itself and that she feels elated very happy, adding that the people of her parliamentary constituency will have more expectations from her now. "I will live up to their every expectation," she says.

I will live up to every expectation of PM Modi and the people: Pashupati Kumar Paras

After becoming a cabinet minister in the central government, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Pashupati Kumar Paras was handed the Ministry of Food Processing. It is known that the Lok Sabha MP from Bihar's Hajipur is embroiled in a feud with nephew Chirag Paswan over the control of the Lok Janshakti Party. Paras having become a minister in the central government from the LJP quota said, "I thank PM Modi from the bottom of my heart. He has given me such a big responsibility. I will continue to work under his guidance, with full hard work and honesty. Whatever the expectation of the people, I will fulfil them. This will be my goal for the rapid development of the entire country including Bihar."

He also added that being the national president of LJP, workers do have high expectations from him and that he would do his best to live up to their every expectation. "I have become a cabinet minister in the central government, due to which the voice of Bihar will be raised in Delhi. Bihar will get its due and that I will fulfil every demand of the people of my parliamentary constituency Hajipur," Paras added, saying that he has been an MLA in Bihar seven times, a minister four times and this experience would help him perform in his ministry in the central government.