Narendra Modi was on Sunday sworn in as the prime minister of the country for a third term, accompanied by 71 other ministers including 30 cabinet ministers, five ministers of state with independent charge and 36 ministers of state.
The newly formed Modi government 3.0 had announced the portfolios after convening its first cabinet meeting on Monday.
In the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, key portfolios were assigned to senior BJP leaders: Amit Shah for home, Rajnath Singh for defence, S Jaishankar for external affairs, Nitin Gadkari for road transport and Nirmala Sitharaman for finance. The allocation target is continuity and was largely on the lines of the previous NDA government.
First-time MP and four-time chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been made union agriculture minister. BJP president J P Nadda has been named union health minister.
A week after the elections, there was speculation that the TDP would get 16 seats and the JD(U) with 12 cabinet berths in exchange for the government’s support.
Among the allies, TDP’s Ram Mohan Naidu has become union minister for civil aviation. JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh has become the minister of panchayati raj. JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has been given the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Steel.
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