Choubey at his office on Monday. Renuka Puri Choubey at his office on Monday. Renuka Puri

NIRMAN BHAWAN, which houses the Ministry of Health, reverberated with cries of “Siyapati Ramchandra Ki Jai” and “Har Har Mahadev” on Monday afternoon, as newly-appointed Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey held a long Puja — a “Swastivachan to cure all” — on his first day. Asked about the spate of deaths of children in Gorakhpur, the former Bihar Health Minister, replied: “Our body is made up of panchtatva (five elements) and only a healthy body can house a healthy brain. So, it is very important to preserve our health.”

Choubey is one of two deputies of Health Minister J P Nadda — the other is Anupriya Patel. He replaces Faggan Singh Kulaste, who was asked to resign ahead of Sunday’s cabinet reshuffle. Accompanied by a group of priests, some of them from his hometown of Bhagalpur, Choubey arrived at Nirman Bhawan at 12:30 pm, and headed straight to Nadda’s office on the third floor, where the senior minister and Patel were waiting for him. Among the priests accompanying him was Mauni Baba from Begusarai’s Ganga Ashram.

After greeting Nadda and Patel, Choubey proceeded to his office, where he and Mauni Baba first did a “pranam” at the door, before entering the room. Priests from the Bhondsi Ashram were waiting inside. Then began the religious rituals.

As the “Swastivachan” and Ganesh Puja, performed by priests from the Bhondsi Ashram, ended, cries of “Siyapati Ramchandra ki Jai” and “Har Har Mahadev” rang out in the second-floor office of the MoS, even as bureaucrats who had come to welcome him with bouquets hovered uncertainly in the background. After a brief interlude, as Choubey spoke about his new responsibility, the priests carried on with their rituals in various parts of the room.

“I performed this ritual for the well-being of all, not just for myself. This is for curing all (arogya), in my capacity as the Arogya Mantri, I want everyone to be well. I would ideally want nobody to have to resort to injections and pills, but lead a healthy life instead,” said Choubey, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Buxar.

“I am thankful to my Kuldevta Kedarnath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah for giving me this opportunity. I came here as a ‘sadhak’, to work under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Health Minister J P Nadda,” said the minister, who was among the pilgrims stranded at Kedarnath after the Uttarakhand floods of 2013.

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