New Delhi, May 18.
In a sudden move, Kiren Rijiju was replaced on Thursday as Law Minister by Arjun Ram Meghwal, a leading Scheduled Caste leader from Rajasthan. Meghwal currently holds the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Culture.
He will hold independent charge as Minister of State for Law in addition to his existing portfolio. His appointment assumes significance in view of the impending Assembly polls in the state in Dec, 2023. Meghwal is from the Bikaner constituency.
A man of many descriptions, Meghwal has risen from the bottom to become a state IAS officer, and after retirement dabbled in social work, farming and education.
He has also co-chaired the commission on reservations in the judiciary and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes from 2011 to 2014.
He holds a post-graduate degree in law from Bikaner. His Meghwal community is considered as a highly influential backward caste in Rajasthan and his move may have been dictated by the ruling party’s electoral compulsions ahead of the Assembly elections.
Rijiju on his part will now head the Earth Sciences Ministry in the Modi government.
A three-time MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Rijiju was appointed Law Minister in July 2021 in place of Ravi Shankar Prasad. He has previously held the portfolios of Minority Affairs and Youth Affairs and Sports at the centre.
Rijiju, who has been at the centre of several controversies sparked by his sharp, critical words against the judiciary, took to twitter to state that it was a privilege to serve as the Law Minister.
He thanked the CJI and other judges and said that he was looking forward to fulfilling the PM’s vision in his new ministry.
The change of stewardship which came by way of a presidential notification took everyone by surprise but could be indicative of the fact that the government may not want to attack the judiciary and attract its ire ahead of the crucial 2024 general elections.
Another presidential communique assigned Professor S.P. Singh Baghel, Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice, to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a minister of state.
