In a major cabinet reshuffle watched with perhaps as much interest in world capitals as in India, Prime Minister Modi removed 12 ministers including the health minister, seen as an admission of the government’s failure during the second wave of the pandemic. The IT minister also lost his job at a time when his ministry and microblogging site Twitter have locked horns over the new IT rules. Another casualty was information minister Javadekar and education minister Nishank. The labour minister also quit as did the junior minister for environment. Their younger replacements will be tested as key state elections loom.
