New Delhi: In a complete rejig of the Cabinet Committee on Security, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tapped BJP chief and cabinet debutant Amit Shah as the country’s new home minister. Making way for him would be Rajnath Singh, who will now handle the defence portfolio. Nirmala Sitharaman has been shifted to the finance ministry, while former foreign secretary S Jaishankar is the new External Affairs Minister.
Both Shah and Jaishankar were surprise picks in the cabinet, making up for the void left by Arun Jaitley, who bowed out citing health reasons, and Sushma Swaraj, who was dropped from Modi’s new team. The new Council of Ministers comprises 58 names, including the prime minister, with 25 holding cabinet positions, nine Ministers of State with Independent charge and 24 Ministers of State.
Here’s the complete list of who got what ministry in the Narendra Modi cabinet:
Narendra Modi - Prime Minister and also in-charge of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space; and all important policy issues; and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister
1. Rajnath Singh - Minister of Defence
2. Amit Shah - Minister of Home Affairs
3. Nitin Gadkari - Minister of Road Transport and Highways; and Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
4. DV Sadananda Gowda - Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
5. Nirmala Sitharaman - Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs
6. Ramvilas Paswan - Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
7. Narendra Singh Tomar - Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Minister of Rural Development; and Minister of Panchayati Raj
8. Ravi Shankar Prasad - Minister of Law and Justice; Minister of Communications; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology
9. Harsimrat Kaur Badal - Minister of Food Processing Industries
10. Thaawar Chand Gehlot - Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment
11. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar - Minister of External Affairs
12. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ - Minister of Human Resource Development
13. Arjun Munda - Minister of Tribal Affairs
14. Smriti Zubin Irani - Minister of Women and Child Development; and Minister of Textiles
15. Harsh Vardhan - Minister of Health and Family Welfare; Minister of Science and Technology; and Minister of Earth Sciences
16. Prakash Javadekar - Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of Information and Broadcasting
17. Piyush Goyal - Minister of Railways; and Minister of Commerce and Industry
18. Dharmendra Pradhan - Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of Steel
19. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi - Minister of Minority Affairs
20. Pralhad Joshi - Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of Coal; and Minister of Mines
21. Mahendra Nath Pandey - Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
22. Arvind Ganpat Sawant - Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise
23. Giriraj Singh - Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries
24. 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 Yesso 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) VK 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 Empowerment
10. Sadhvi 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 Affairs
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
Besides Swaraj, eight-time MP Maneka Gandhi, six-time MP Radhamohan Singh, Mahesh Sharma, Jayant Sinha, Jual Oram, Ram Kripal Yadav, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, all from the BJP, and Anupriya Patel (of BJP ally Apna Dal) failed to make the cut despite winning their respective seats. Anantkumar Hegde, a Hindutva leader from Karnataka who is known for his controversial statements, was also dropped.
Suresh Prabhu and JP Nadda (both Rajya Sabha MPs) also did not find a place. Speculation is rife that Nadda, who was made BJP's UP in-charge, may succeed Shah as party president.
Hardeep Singh Puri, a former diplomat who lost the elections, managed to retain his berth. Jaishankar and Puri will have to enter Parliament within six months and they could take the Rajya Sabha route.
Key BJP ally JD(U) stayed out of the government in what appears to be a sign of differences with the saffron party over the number of ministerial berths offered to the party.
While the inclusion of Shah, seen as BJP's key strategist who helped the party expand its base after taking over the reins of the party in 2014, was the subject of intense speculation since the party's spectacular victory on May 23, Jaishankar, considered close to Modi, was a surprise pick.
A seasoned diplomat, Jaishankar was the Indian government's points-man for China and the US. Son of the late K Subrahmanyam, one of India's leading strategic analysts, Jaishankar was a key member of the Indian team which negotiated the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal. He retired from the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) last year to join Tata Trusts.
Uttar Pradesh accounted for a maximum of nine ministers while states like West Bengal, where the BJP had a spectacular showing winning 18 seats, accounted for two ministers — Babul Supriyo and Debasree Chaudhuri. Kerala, where the BJP drew a blank, had a token representation in V Muraleedharan, the Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra.
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