PM Narendra Modi just wants performance, minister-designate Rajyavardhan Rathore says

NEW DELHI: Olympian shooter-turned-politician Rajyavardhan Rathore is among the 20 new faces that will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet on Sunday.

"I am proud that he (Modi) has selected me. It is a great honour. With it comes greater responsibility ... I have come here for responsibility," Rathore said.

Rathore, who was elected from Jaipur Rural in Rajasthan, stressed that Modi expected performance. "He just wants performance. Perhaps, by taking fresh faces, he is thinking of out-of-the-box ideas," he said.

Meanwhile, ahead of the reshuffle of the Union council of ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a breakfast meet for the new faces to be inducted in his Cabinet.

Manohar Parrikar, who is tipped to be the defence minister, BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Olympian shooter-turned-politician Rajyavardhan Rathore and BJP MP from West Bengal Babul Supriyo are among those who attended the breakfast meet.

Around 20 new faces are expected to be inducted into the Union council of ministers in the first revamp exercise which is likely to bring in BJP leaders Parrikar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rudy and Bandaru Dattatreya while elevating a few.

Hansraj Gangaram Ahir representing Chandrapur Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra and Ram Kripal, MP from Pataliputra in Bihar have also been invited for the breakfast.

An IIT-M alumnus, Parrikar will be the first Cabinet Minister from Goa and shares a good rapport with the Prime Minister.

The current strength of the Union Cabinet is 45 — 23 of Cabinet rank, including the Prime Minister, and 22 ministers of state. Of the 22 MoS, 10 hold independent charge.