New Delhi: Nirmala Sitharaman was on Sunday named the first independent woman Defence Minister of India. However, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was the first woman to hold the portfolio as the additional charge till 1982.
The post of the defence minister fell vacant after Manohar Parrikar joined Goa state politics to become the chief minister of the state. Following this, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took over, but only recently, he had hinted that he would not remain the defence minister for long.
58-year-old Sitharaman, who earlier held the independent charge of the commerce and industry ministry will now be part of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which comprises Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Finance Minster Arun Jaitley. Sitharaman recently hit the headlines when she travelled to China for a BRICS meeting, in the middle of a lengthy standoff at the border over Doklam.
Earlier in the day, Nirmala Sitharaman, who was serving as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry was elevated as one of the Cabinet Ministers along with Dharmendra Pradhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Piyush Goyal.
Following a mega Union Cabinet reshuffle at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and congratulated the ministers, who have taken oath today and said that their experience and wisdom would add immense value to the Council of Ministers.
"I congratulate all those who have taken oath today. Their experience & wisdom will add immense value to the Council of Ministers," PM tweeted.
The Prime Minister particularly congratulated Dharmendra Pradhan, Nirmala Sitharaman, Mukhtal Abbas Naqvi, and Piyush Goyal.
"I congratulate my colleagues @dpradhanbjp, @PiyushGoyal, @nsitharaman and @naqvimukhtar on joining the Union Cabinet," he further wrote.
