C.P. Joshi appointed as the new Railway Minister

C.P. Joshi, the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister on 24 September 2012 took an additional charge of the Railway Ministry after the exit of Mukul Roy. 

With this responsibility in the hands of C.P. joshi, the railway ministry has landed down in the hands of Congress after 17 years. The last railway minister from congress was C.K. Jaffer Sharief (1991-95). Joshi is a congress MP from Bhilwara in Rajasthan. His primary and secondary education was completed from his place of birth in Nathdwara, Rajasthan. He graduated from M.B. College Udaipur with a B.A. degree in Law. He completed his masters’ degree in Physics and holds a Ph.D in Psychology.

Mukul Roy, leader of Trinamool Congress and a member of Rajya Sabha resigned from the position on 21 September 2012 after his party withdrew support from the government. Mukul Roy replaced Dinesh Trivedi as railway minister on 14 March 2012. 

Process of allocating the ministry/appointment of a minister:

Under article 75 (1) - Prime Minister of India is selected by the President and the ministers are appointed by the president on advice of the Prime Minister. The portfolio allocation to different ministers is also done by him.

Some of the railway ministers of the Indian Union before Mukul Roy:

1. Dinesh Trivedi- 12 July 2011- 14 March 2012
2. Mamata Banerjee- 2009–2011, she resigned from the ministry on 19 May 2011
3. Laloo Prasad Yadav- 2004–2009
4. Nitish Kumar- 2001–2004

The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh managed the railway portfolio for a period of about two months after Mamata Banerjee resigned from the position.