Rijiju replaces Rathore as Sports Minister

New Delhi, May 31: Kiren Rijiju was on Friday appointed as the new Sports Minister. He replaced Olympic medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

Along with the Independent charge of the Sports and Youth Affairs, Rijiju was also named as the Minister of State for Minority Affairs.

"My heartfelt gratitude to PM Narendra Modi for reposing faith in me to be a member of his council of ministers. I sincerely thank Amit Shahji along with karyakartas and well wishers across India," Rijiju earlier tweeted.

"For me 'leadership is not about power and privilege, it is about responsibility'," he added.

Rathore was not inducted in the list of ministers, who took the oath of office and secrecy at the forecourts of Rashtapati Bhawan on Thursday.

Rijiju, 47, who is BJP's face in Northeast, had served as the Minister of State for Home Affairs.