J.P. Nadda takes charge of Union Health Ministry, urges focus on 100-day agenda

New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) BJP President J P Nadda took charge of the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday.

He was allocated the Health Ministry as well as the Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry on Monday, a day after taking oath as a cabinet minister in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

In the previous Modi government, both the ministries were led by Mansukh Mandaviya.

After taking charge, he along with Ministers of State for Health Anupriya Patel and Prataprao Jadhav interacted with senior officials of the Health Ministry.

He is learnt to have told them to focus on the government's agenda for the first 100 days, especially on extending the coverage under the Ayushman Bharat scheme for people aged 70 years and above.

Nadda held the health portfolio during the Modi government's first term before he took over as the BJP's working president in 2019. He became a full-fledged party president in January 2020 following Amit Shah's appointment as Union Home Minister.

Nadda's term as BJP president ended in January and he was given a six-month extension to oversee the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. His term ends in June.

The 63-year-old BJP leader, who holds a law degree, started his political journey with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students' wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He became the president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the BJP's youth wing, in 1991.

He held various key positions in the BJP and headed its election campaign in many states. He also served as a minister in BJP governments in his home state of Himachal Pradesh.

Nadda was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2012 and made a member of the BJP's parliamentary board in 2014 when Amit Shah took over as the party president. After the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Nadda was made BJP's working president.

He was elevated to the position of BJP president in January 2020.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav took charge as the Minister of State for Health. He has also been allocated the Ayush Ministry as the Minister of State (Independent Charge). The 64-year-old leader won his fourth consecutive term from the Buldhana Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra.

Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal (S) also took charge as Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare. She has also been appointed as the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers.

The 43-year-old leader served as the Minister of State for Health from 2016 to 2019 and as Minister of State for Commerce and Industry since 2021 in the Modi government 2.0.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Patel defeated Samajwadi Party's Ramesh Chand Bind by a margin of 37,810 votes in the Mirzapur parliamentary seat of Uttar Pradesh. PTI