Who is Arjun Ram Meghwal? Who replaced Kiran Rijiju as Union Law Minister, all you need to know

In a significant reshuffle in PM Modi's cabinet, Union Minister Arjun Meghwal has been appointed to the Law Ministry portfolio while Kiren Rijiju has been shifted to Earth Sciences Ministry.

The announcement was made on May 18 on the directions of the President of India, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised. 

An official letter informing about the reshuffle stated, "The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister has been pleased to direct the following reallocation of portfolios among Ministers in the Union Council of Ministers: (i)  The portfolio of Ministry of Earth Sciences be assigned to Shri Kiren Rijiju.

(ii) Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State be assigned the independent charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice in addition to his existing portfolios, in place of Shri Kiren Rijiju"

Also Read: Modi cabinet reshuffle: Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal replaces Kiren Rijiju as the Law Minister

Who is Arjun Ram Meghwal?

Arjun Ram Meghwal, born 20 December 1953, is an Indian politician and the current Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Second Cabinet. 

Meghwal, a Bharatiya Janata Party member, was previously Chief Whip and Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. 

He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 2009, representing the Rajasthan seat of Bikaner. In 2013, he was named Best Parliamentarian.

Know Arjun Ram Meghwal's political life

He was elected as a Member of Parliament for the Bhartiya Janata Party from the Bikaner Constituency in 2009. 

On June 2, 2009, he took the oath of office as a Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha. He was re-elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from the Bikaner Constituency in the 2014 general election. 

"When I first decided to take the plunge into electoral politics in 2009, nobody even remotely thought I would win. Candidates from the ruling party of the state always won the seat and the Congress was in power in Rajasthan then. They even coined a slogan: 'Pehle actor, ab collector' (actor Dharmendra was the BJP candidate in Bikaner before me). Voters were told a suit-wearing civil servant working in an air-conditioned office would not understand their problems," said Arjun Ram Meghwal to India Today.

During his 2nd term as an MP, he was Chief Whip of Bhartiya Janta Party in Lok Sabha. The speaker of Lok Sabha also nominated him as the Chairman of the House Committee, Lok Sabha.