Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi dropped 12 members of his cabinet in a dramatic reshuffle, including the federal ministers for health and law, as he faces fierce criticism over the government's alleged mishandling of the pandemic.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who was the face of the government's efforts to fight Covid-19, was asked to step down along with his deputy. Just hours later, Modi appointed Mansukh Laxman Mandaviya to take on the role.Official sources told Reuters Vardhan had to pay the political price for the government's struggles to cope with a devastating second wave of coronavirus infections earlier this year that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Indians.
IT minister exits amid Twitter feudRavi Shankar Prasad, who headed the ministries of electronics and information technology as well as law, also resigned on Wednesday. He was replaced with Ashwini Vaishnaw in the new cabinet lineup.Prasad's exit comes amid a series of feuds with social media platforms, primarily Twitter, following a change in strict new regulations released in February.