Dharmendra Pradhan returns to LS after decade, joins Modi cabinet

About a fortnight shy of his 56th birthday, Dharmendra Pradhan, the towering figure of Odisha BJP, staged a triumphant return to the Union Cabinet on Sunday. His re-entry into the hallowed halls of power under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aegis is not merely a routine reshuffle but a spectacle of political theatre as he became the lone warrior from Odisha to take oath as an Union minister for the third time. Son of a doctor and former Union minister Debendra Pradhan, Dharmendra was born on June 26, 1969 and gained the fame of being known as the 'Ujjwala Man' across the country. During his tenure as a Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Pradhan was instrumental in making Modi's PM Ujjwala Yojana successful under which the poor women were given free of cost cooking gas cylinders. Dharmendra Pradhan has created a history for being the longest serving Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas in the history of independent India. He joined as the Minister of State (In-charge) in 2014, he