When Dr Harsh Vardhan shared the stage with PM Narendra Modi at the valedictory session of the 6th World Ayurveda Congress at Pragati Maidan, he outlined his grand plans for an Ayurveda Mission. Seven hours later, he was stripped of the Health Ministry — that he is passionate about — and shunted to the low key Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences. He was replaced by J P Nadda.
Nadda’s name, incidentally, is inextricably linked to Harsh Vardhan’s first controversy in the Health Ministry — removing AIIMS CVO Sanjeev Chaturvedi. Nadda had written a letter, seeking Chaturvedi’s removal though Harsh Vardhan had downplayed it. The unexpected removal of one of the most visible ministers had the rumours mills working overtime, more so because the corridors of the Health Ministry had for a brief while been agog with speculation about how Harsh Vardhan’s almost activist-like…
