Finance Minister Arun Jaitley takes charge as Defence Minister
New Delhi: The Central government today gave additional responsibility of Defence Minister to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
This decision comes after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar given his resignation on Monday as he is going to take oath of the new Chief Minister of Goa by representing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
President Pranab Mukherjee, on the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed Jaitley to be assigned the charge of the Defence Ministry in addition to his existing portfolios.
In a statement issued from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said, “Arun Jaitley shall be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Defence, in addition to his existing portfolios.”
On other hand, Parrikar had told media persons, “I have tendered my resignation as Defence Minister and sent it to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).”
When persons asked how many ministers would be sworn in, Parrikar had said, “The decision on the number of ministers and other issues are being currently worked out. Once the cabinet is finalised, we will inform the media.”
Earlier, Jaitley was handling Defence Ministry charge from May 26, 2014-till November 9th, 2014 when the Modi government was sworn in and later the portfolio was handed over to Parrikar.
