Not a demotion, says Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu

Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu today rubbished the talk of his demotion in the Cabinet reshuffle, saying he looks at his new task as an opportunity to ensure rapid economic growth of the country.
Noting that his new assignment is his ninth as a Cabinet minister, Prabhu said every task is equally important.

Prabhu was moved out of the important railway ministry and was handed over the commerce and industry portfolio in the Cabinet recast. The development comes after Prabhu took moral responsibility for the Kalinga Utkal Express train’s derailment near Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district on August 19 that killed 23 people. Two more derailments were also reported last month. Soon after the Khatauli tragedy, Prabhu had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said in a series of tweets that he took full responsibility for the accident but was asked to “wait”. This was seen as an indication that he would be ejected from the key infrastructure ministry.

“Every responsibility of the government is important and this is my ninth Cabinet level position,” Prabhu said. There was a buzz that Prabhu could be axed from the Cabinet, but he was replaced by Piyush Goyal and shifted to commerce and industries ministry. “I …read more