Sitharaman, Goyal, Pradhan become members of key Cabinet committees

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Petroleum Minister Dharmandra Pradhan have become members of key Cabinet committees reconstituted after the September 3 reshuffle.

After her elevation as defence minister, Sitharaman has become a member of the Cabinet committee on security headed by the prime minister. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely was till recently holding the additional charge of defence after Manohar Parrikar quit the Union Cabinet in March.

The other members are Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Jaitley and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Minister of State for Urban Development with independent charge Hardeep Singh Puri has also become part of the Cabinet committee on accommodation.

Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is no more part of the Cabinet committee on parliamentary affairs. Before his elevation as a Cabinet minister, he was a minister of state in the parliamentary affairs ministry.

S S Ahluwalia, who was divested of his charge as minister of state for parliamentary affairs, is also no longer a member of the Cabinet panel on parliamentary affairs which recommends dates of parliament sessions.

Vijay Goel, who has been made the minister of state for parliamentary affairs, is part of the reconstituted parliamentary affairs ministry as a special invitee along with Arjun Ram Meghwal, another MoS in the parliamentary affairs committee.

Sitharaman and Goyal have also become part of the Cabinet committee on political affairs and Cabinet committee on economic affairs. Pradhan has also become a member of the Cabinet committee on economic affairs which meets almost every week just before the meeting of the full Cabinet usually on Wednesdays.

Uma Bharti, who was divested of her water resources ministry portfolio, is not a member of any of the Cabinet committees.