The list of portfolios released on Monday shows that in the third term of the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari kept their important positions.
One day following the swearing-in ceremony, the list was made public following the first meeting of the 30-person Cabinet, which was presided over by Prime Minister Modi.
Hardeep Singh Puri (Petroleum and Natural Gas), Piyush Goyal (Commerce and Industry), Dharmendra Pradhan (Education), Sarbananda Sonowal (Ports, Shipping, and Waterways), Bhupender Yadav (Environment, Forest, and Climate Change), and Virendra Kumar (Social Justice and Empowerment) were among the other ministers in the second PM Modi government who kept their positions.
In addition to being given the responsibility for information and broadcasting, Ashwani Vaishnaw has kept the Ministries of Railways, Electronics, and Information Technology.
Health and Family Welfare was a position BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda held in the first PM Modi government. Nadda is returning to government. The additional charge for chemicals and fertilisers was also given to him.
The ministry has been returned to the control of Jual Oram, the former Minister for Tribal Affairs in the first PM Modi government.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, will serve as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development during his first term in the Union Cabinet. Manohar Lal Khattar, the former chief minister of Haryana, who also became a Union Minister for the first time, will serve as the Minister of Housing, Urban Affairs, and Power.
In his first assignment in the Union Cabinet, C.R. Patil, the head of the BJP’s Gujarat unit, has been assigned the vital Jal Shakti Ministry.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Tourism and Culture), Annapurna Devi (Women and Child Development), Kiren Rijiju (Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs), Mansukh Mandaviya (Labour and Employment, Sports), Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (Communications, and Development of North Eastern Region), Pralhad Joshi (Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution as well as New and Renewable Energy), Giriraj Singh (Textiles), Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (Communications, and Development of North Eastern Region), Giriraj Singh (Textiles), and G. Kishan Reddy (Coal and Mines).
The allies have appointed TDP’s Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu as the Minister of Civil Aviation, JD-S’s H.D. Kumaraswamy as the Minister of Heavy Industry and Steel, Jitan Ram Manjhi of HAM-S as the new MSME Minister, JD-U’s Rajiv Ranjan Singh, also known as Lalan Singh, as the Minister of Panchayati Raj, and the portfolios of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying. Meanwhile, Chirag Paswan, the leader of the Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas, has been appointed Minister for Food Processing Industries.
The following individuals have been designated as Ministers of State (Independent Charge): Rao Inderjit Singh, who will be the Minister of State for Culture; Jitendra Singh, who will be the Minister of State in the PMO for Science and Technology; Arjun Ram Meghwal, who will once again be the Minister of State for Law and Justice; Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav, the leader of the Shiv Sena, who will be the Minister of State in the Health Ministry for AYUSH; and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary, who will be designated as the Minister of State for Education.
BJP’s first-ever Kerala MP Suresh Gopi (Petroleum and Natural Gas and Tourism), TDP’s Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, the richest MP (Rural Development and Communication), Jitin Prasada (Commerce and Industry and Electronics and IT), Ravneet Singh ‘Bittu’ (Food Processing Industries and Railways), and Raksha Khadse (Youth Affairs and Sports) are among the important Ministers of State.
