As Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his second term, Rajasthan’s Kailash Choudhary is the surprise inclusion in his government.
Choudhary is amongst the newly elected MPs to receive a call from BJP president Amit Shah, who made calls to ministerial picks ahead of the swearing-in ceremony today evening.
Choudhary took to Twitter to make the announcement:
"Today, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in, a strong dimension for the progress of the country will be established."
Forty-year-old Kailash fought one of the most challenging contests in Rajasthan, in Barmer, its largest constituency. He defeated BJP veteran Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh, who contested from Congress.
Manvendra Singh had quit from BJP in 2018 calling it a question of reclaiming his self-respect after the way his father was sidelined by the BJP and dropped as a candidate in 2014.
However, Kailash Choudhary won with a margin of over three lakh votes. Despite losing in the assembly election in December, Kailash Choudhary was picked to fight Manvendra Singh. The saffron party had reportedly dropped Sona Ram, its sitting MP, to field Kailash Choudhary who is the former legislator from Baytoo.