New Delhi, June 9: Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister on Sunday for a record-equalling third term, heading a 72-member Union Council of Ministers that put emphasis on continuity, youth and experience while also rewarding partners in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, all ministers in the Modi 2.0 cabinet, took oath as cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of secrecy and office to Modi and 30 Cabinet ministers, five Ministers of State with Independent charge, and 36 Ministers of State. Portfolios of the new ministers were yet to be announced till late tonight.
There were bugles, ceremonial guards, flowers and all the trappings of a grand spectacle at the oath taking ceremony at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan that lasted 155 minutes. Nearly 9,000 people from all walks of life were estimated to be present for the grand event that began at 7.15 pm.
There were 33 first-timers with six from well-known political families. They included three former chief ministers — Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and HD Kumaraswamy (Karnataka). The new faces also included Suresh Gopi, the actor-turned-politician who scripted history by becoming the BJP’s first Lok Sabha MP from Kerala.
The strength of the Modi ministry including the prime minister stood at 72 as against the maximum limit of 81.
The first meeting of the Modi cabinet is likely to be held on Monday evening at the Prime Minister’s Lok Kalyan Marg residence, sources said.
All states which send four or more MPs to the 543-member Lok Sabha have found representation in the Council of Ministers besides smaller states like Goa and Arunachal Pradesh.
Bihar has scored big as among the eight ministers from the state four were given cabinet rank, including BJP’s Dalit allies Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi, underscoring the ruling NDA’s efforts to deepen its connect with the Scheduled Castes whose support to it appeared to have weakened during the polls.
Uttar Pradesh got nine berths, including one in the cabinet in Rajnath Singh while Maharashtra, which goes to the assembly polls in October, has its six MPs in the Council of Ministers. (PTI)
