There is no big change in the Team Modi 3.0 as some of the top Ministers will continue with their erstwhile portfolios hence giving no scope to the major coalition partners —TDP, JD(U) — to flex their muscles to take the reins of important Ministries. The allocation of portfolios underlined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s faith in his colleagues, especially those handling the frontline Ministries which shaped and drove the Government's policies and programmes.
Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar and Nitin Gadkari — have been retained with their respective Ministries from the previous regime —Home, Defence, Finance, External Affairs and Road, Transport and Highways portfolios, to give impetus to first 100 days as mandated by Modi before going for the Lok Sabha polls this March.
Now all eyes will be on the full annual Budget to be presented by the Modi regime in the third term as the aspirations of alliance partners like review of controversial Agniveer schemes etc has to be on the platter.
The new Cabinet-led by Modi aimed for continuity while trying to strike a balance between giving space to BJP bigwigs and accommodating NDA allies. Now, sources said that there is a possibility that BJP will continue to keep the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post with itself and not budge to the demands of TDP as speculated.
Sources said the Modi Government was reluctant to give the important Cabinet portfolios to its alliance partners. Notably, the NDA partners — TDP and Janata Dal (United) could not get the Cabinet portfolios which they demanded.
TDP’s Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu will be the new Civil Aviation Minister, a post previously held by Jyotiraditya Scindia. TDP leader C Pemmasani, who is the richest candidate of the Modi Government, will be Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications while Scindia will be Cabinet Minister for communications and development of northeastern region.
Piyush Goyal who emerged successful in the Lok Sabha polls has been retained as Minister of Commerce while Ashwini Vaishnaw to accelerate as Railways Minister and in addition, will return in the newly formed NDA Government as the Information and Broadcasting Minister, a position previously held by Anurag Singh Thakur.
The NDA partners TDP and JD(U) were lobbying for Railways Ministry but the Modi Government was reluctant to give it to its partners.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be the new Agriculture Minister as well as Rural Development, and ex-Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will now head the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs which previously held by Hardeep Singh Puri. Dharmendra Pradhan will continue heading the Education Ministry. Gujarat BJP president Chandrakant Raghunath Patil has been appointed as the new Jal Shakti Minister. Alongside Patil, V Somanna and Raj Bhushan Choudhary have been appointed as Ministers of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Somanna also takes on the role of Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, according to an official statement.
Dr Jitendra Singh is MoS (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology; MoS (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences; MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office; MoS in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; MoS in the Department of Atomic Energy; and MoS in the Department of Space. Arjun Ram Meghwal is MoS (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Law and Justice; and MoS in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao is MoS (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayush; and MoS in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary is MoS (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and MoS in the Ministry of Education. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan is all set to become the new Minister of Food Processing Industries.
Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy will head the Ministries of Steel and Heavy Industries. Ravneet Singh Bittu, who lost the Ludhiana seat in the Lok Sabha elections, will head the Ministry of Minority Affairs. Former Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju will take charge of Parliamentary Affairs, a role previously held by Pralhad Joshi. Joshi has been reassigned to the Food, Consumer Affairs, and Renewable Energy departments.
Giriraj Singh has been moved to Textiles, a department formerly managed by Smriti Irani. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will now be the Minister of Culture and Tourism.
All eyes will be on who is chosen to head the BJP as JP Nadda has been given charge of Health and Family Welfare, and Chemicals and Fertilizers. Meanwhile, Mansukh Mandaviya has been moved to Ministries of Labour and Employment, and Youth Affairs and Sports.
Annapurna Devi, one of the two women Cabinet Ministers, will head the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Savitri Thakur is the new Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Former Bihar CM and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi will head the Ministry of MSME while JD(U) leader Ram Nath Thakur MoS Agriculture.
