Among the notable changes from the Cabinet Reshuffle, Nirmala Sitharaman will be the new Defence Minister. She was formerly the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, a role which will now be taken over by former Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka for the BJP was earlier a national spokesperson for the party.
Sitharaman is among the four junior ministers who were given a cabinet berth.
"Somebody who has come from a small town, grown into the party with all the support of the leadership, and if given such responsibility, it just makes you feel sometimes that cosmic grace is there. Otherwise it is impossible," she told reporters here after taking oath.
To a query over the opposition's criticism of her working as commerce minister, the BJP leader said she was neither averse nor frightened by criticism.
"Every criticism is a message and we have to learn from it. I am not averse to criticism and also not frightened of it (criticism), but certainly take messages from them.
"Criticism per se do not reflect on performance, it only adds to your performance if you are ready to take on-board the corrections that may be workable," she said.
Sitharaman was also quick to highlight a number of initiatives by the commerce ministry like Start up India and Make in India.
"With the support of the prime minister, so many things have happened in the ministry like Start up India, Make in India etc. There is some misconception about 'Make in India', but it will be answered," she said.
The 58-year-old takes charge of Defence, a portfolio earlier held by Arun Jaitley, who will be relieved of the charge while continuing to function as the Finance Minister.
Sitharaman is the second woman after Indira Gandhi to hold the charge of the Defence Ministry. Among the other major reshuffles of the day, Piyush Goyal was promoted as a cabinet minister and was given charge of the Railways.
Two former bureaucrats, one retired diplomat and an ex-police official are among nine new faces who took oath into the Council of Ministers on Sunday in a major revamp by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
With Agency Inputs
