Union Minister Kiren Rijiju takes charge as Food Processing Industries Minister

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President Draupadi Murmu on March 20 handed over the additional responsibility of Food Processing Industries Minister to Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and this decision came after accepting the resignation of Pashupati Kumar Paras from the Union Council of Ministers.

An Overview of the News

• Pashupati Kumar Paras resigned after his party, Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, was not included in the seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Bihar.

• The resignation was accepted under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution.

About Kiran Rijiju

• Kiren Rijiju, an Indian politician from Arunachal Pradesh, serves as a Cabinet Minister in the Government of India.

• He holds the portfolios of Earth Sciences and Food Processing Industries, assuming office in 2023 and 2024.

• Rijiju has represented the Arunachal West constituency in the Lok Sabha since 2014.

• Before his current tenure, he also served as a Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2009.

About Pashupati Kumar Paras

• Paras, an Indian politician, held the position of Minister of Food Processing Industries in the Government of India from 2021 until his resignation in 2024.

• He is currently serving as a Lok Sabha member representing Hajipur constituency since 2019.

• He previously served as the Minister of Animal and Fisheries Resources in the Government of Bihar.

• Pashupati Kumar Paras is the younger brother of the late Ram Vilas Paswan.

• He also held the post of State President of Bihar unit of Lok Janshakti Party.

• In June 2021, he was elected as the national president of Lok Janshakti Party, replacing Chirag Kumar Paswan.

• Following factional disputes within the Lok Janshakti Party, he assumed the role of National President of the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party in 2021.