Modi's health minister quits as India braces for third COVID wave

Opposition pounces on cabinet reshuffle, calling it a 'failed' pandemic response

20210706N India health minister

Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan holds a dose of Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine called Covaxin in January. Vardhan resigned on July 7. © Reuters

KIRAN SHARMA, Nikkei staff writer

NEW DELHI -- India's Health Minister Harsh Vardhan resigned on Wednesday amid a storm of criticism of the government's handling of the deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vardhan was among 12 ministers who quit on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out the first reshuffle of his cabinet of his second five-year tenure that began in May 2019.

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