Okay first of all, India made a fairly informed choice and here we are looking forward to the second term of prime minister Narendra Modi, and where it will lead the economy. We’d be taking you through major takeaways from the Modi government’s swearing in ceremony, and what’s what of the new cabinet that’s now in charge.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his 57-member council of ministers were sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind, with the Modi government allocating portfolio to his new ministers. While Nirmala Sitharama, gets the key Finance Ministry to handle, Amit Shah is in-charge of the Home Ministry, Rajnath Singh is in-charge of the Defence Ministry.
The Union Cabinet for the 17th Lok Sabha includes 24 cabinet ministers, 9 ministers of state with independent charge, and 24 Ministers of State (MoS).
Major takeaways from Modi’s new cabinet
The second National Democratic Alliance government led by prime minister Narendra Modi has the maximum number of 10 ministers hailing from Uttar Pradesh, including Modi jii himself, followed by seven ministers from Maharashtra, and six of them from Bihar.
The new government also has three ministers each from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Karnataka — these were the states where voters gave the Bhartiya Janta Party a clean sweep — followed by two each from West Bengal, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
The new Council of Ministers has representation from almost all the states, except Andhra Pradesh and the north-eastern states of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura.
While nearly half of Modi’s previous cabinet ministers have been replaced, the representation has been from almost all states spreading across various caste and social groups, with some first-time MPs as well.
The new council of ministers is a reflection of Modi government to expand BJP’s reach in new areas where it has made forays in this election including West Bengal and Odisha meanwhile also sticking to its social base in areas where it has been running strong.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who is a former foreign affairs secretary, was sworn in as India’s new foreign minister. Sushma Swaraj who took care of the post earlier, stepped aside due to poor health.
The Modi government is set to put more mind to the diplomacy with neighboring countries in this term. Jaishankar, a China expert has been sworn in as the new foreign minister.
Nirmala Sitharaman, who previously served as the defence minister, is now the new finance minister.
Sitharaman will take over finance ministry at a time when there is pressure from industries for the government to provide some stimulus to halt a worrying slowdown in Asia’s third-largest economy.
According to reports, the previous finance minister, Arun Jaitley, wrote out to Modi for his absence from a ministerial position due to ill health.
Former home minister Rajnath Singh has been given the defence portfolio.
Following is the complete list of ministers and their portfolios in PM Modi’s new cabinet:
Cabinet Ministers
1. Narendra Modi – Prime Minister, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space
2. Rajnath Singh – Minister of Defence
3. Amit Shah – Minister of Home Affairs.
4. Nitin Gadkari – Minister of Road Transport and Highways; and Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
5. DV Sadananda Gowda – Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
6. Nirmala Sitharaman – Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs.
7. Ramvilas Paswan – Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
8. Narendra Singh Tomar – Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Minister of Rural Development; and Minister of Panchayati Raj.
9. Ravi Shankar Prasad Minister of Law and Justice; Minister of Communications; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology.
10. Harsimrat Kaur Badal – Minister of Food Processing Industries.
11. Thaawar Chand Gehlot – Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
12. Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar – Minister of External Affairs.
13. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ – Minister of Human Resource Development.
14. Arjun Munda – Minister of Tribal Affairs.
15. Smriti Irani – Minister of Women and Child Development; and Minister of Textiles.
16. Dr. Harsh Vardhan – Minister of Health and Family Welfare;Minister of Science and Technology; and Minister of Earth Sciences.
17. Prakash Javadekar – Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of Information and Broadcasting.
18. Piyush Goyal – Minister of Railways; and Minister of Commerce and Industry.
19. Dharmendra Pradhan – Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of Steel.
20. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi – Minister of Minority Affairs.
21. Pralhad Joshi – Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of Coal; and Minister of Mines.
22. Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey – Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
23. Arvind Ganpat Sawant – Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise
24. Giriraj Singh – Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries
25. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat – Minister of Jal Shakti
Ministers of State (Independent Charge)
1. Santosh Kumar Gangwar – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment
2. Rao Inderjit Singh – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; and Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning.
3. Shripad Naik – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH); and Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence.
4. Dr. Jitendra Singh – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region; Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office; Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and Minister of State in the Department of Space.
5. Kiren Rijiju – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs
6. Prahalad Singh Patel – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Culture; and Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Tourism.
7. Raj Kumar Singh – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Power; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
8. Hardeep Singh Puri – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
9. Mansukh L. Mandaviya – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Shipping; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Ministers of State
1. Faggansingh Kulaste – Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel
2. Ashwini Kumar Choubey – Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
3. Arjun Ram Meghwal – Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
4. General (Retd.) V. K. Singh – Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
5. Krishan Pal – Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
6. Danve Raosaheb Dadarao – Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
7. G Kishan Reddy – Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs
8. Parshottam Rupala – Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
9. Ramdas Athawale – Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowermen
10. Niranjan Jyoti – Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development
11. Babul Supriyo – Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
12. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan – Minister of State in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries
13. Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao – Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development; Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
14. Anurag Singh Thakur – Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
15. Angadi Suresh Channabasappa – Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways
16. Nityanand Rai – Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs
17. Rattan Lal Kataria – Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
18. V Muraleedharan – Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
19. Renuka Singh Saruta – Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affair
20. Som Parkash – Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
21. Rameswar Teli – Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries
22. Pratap Chandra Sarangi – Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.
23. Kailash Choudhary -Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
24. Debasree Chaudhuri – Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development
