BackTwo first-time women MPs sworn in as MoS in PM Modi's new government
The present Lok Sabha has the highest women representation at 14.3% with as many as 78 women MPs, higher than 62 during the last termA long-standing BJP worker in West Bengal, Chaudhuri has been state General Secretary for the party
PremiumNEW DELHI : Two first-time MPs, one each from Chhattisgarh and West Bengal were among the three women Parliamentarians who were sworn in as the Minister of State (MoS) in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, here on Thursday.
Out of the three women MPs, who were awarded the MoS charge during the first term, PM Modi only retained Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti who was Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in 2014.
The other two including Krishna Raj who was Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Anupriya Patel who was Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare were dropped this time.
However, the Prime Minister included two new entrants in the Parliament, namely Renuka Singh Saruta from Chhatisgarh and Debasree Chauhduri from West Bengal.
A former MLA from Premanagr in Chhattisgarh, Saruta had marked her first victory in 2013, when she contested the Assembly elections and won. In the recent elections, she won the seat from Sarguja in Chhattisgarh, a state which has 11 Lok Sabha seats.
While Chaudhuri made her mark by winning the Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal, where the party has successfully made inroads in the recent elections by winning 18 of the total 42 Parliamentary constituencies. After contesting unsuccessfully in 2009, she finally recorded victory in the recent Lok Sabha elections when she contested from Raiganj in north West Bengal.
A long-standing BJP worker in West Bengal, Chaudhuri has been state General Secretary for the party.
The present Lok Sabha has the highest women representation at 14.3% with as many as 78 women MPs, higher than 62 during the last term.
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