Union Cabinet Reshuffle: On Thursday i.e. May 18, a significant cabinet reshuffle was announced in the Modi government.
Kiren Rijiju, who previously served as the Law Minister, has undergone a change in his ministry. Arjun Ram Meghwal has been appointed as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Law and Justice, replacing Rijiju.
The newly appointed Law Minister of the Union represents the Bikaner Lok Sabha constituency in Rajasthan.
Meanwhile, Rijiju has been assigned to the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
This development comes amid an ongoing debate surrounding the Supreme Court collegium system. Rijiju had previously expressed his view that the collegium system for appointing judges lacked transparency
The decision was made by the President based on the advice of the Prime Minister, as stated in a press release from Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Kiren Rijiju, born on 19 November 1971 in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, is currently serving as a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency.
He holds a law degree from Delhi University. Rijiju first contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2004 from the Arunachal West constituency and won.
However, he faced defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. In the 2014 elections, Rijiju once again triumphed and was subsequently appointed as the Minister of State for Home Affairs in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet.
During the second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019, Kiren Rijiju was appointed as the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports and the Minister of State for Minority Affairs.
Following a cabinet overhaul in 2021, he was reassigned as the Law Minister, succeeding Ravi Shankar Prasad in this position.
Arjun Ram Meghwal, who has been representing the Bikaner constituency since 2009, hails from Kismidesar village in Bikaner.
He pursued his BA and LLB degrees from Dungar College, Bikaner, and later completed his Masters (M.A) from the same institution.
Furthermore, Meghwal holds an MBA degree from the University of the Philippines. Prior to his political career, he served as an IAS officer in the Rajasthan cadre.
Meghwal is widely recognized as a prominent figure representing the Scheduled Castes in Rajasthan.
Meghwal, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been elected as a Member of Parliament from Bikaner in the 2009, 2014, and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In recognition of his parliamentary excellence, he was honoured with the Best Parliamentarian Award in 2013. During his second term, Meghwal held the position of Chief Whip for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha.
In May 2019, he assumed the role of Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. Recently, he has been entrusted with the additional responsibility of the Law Ministry.
