India’s PM Narendra Modi expanded and reshuffled his council of ministers on Wednesday with some ministers dropped and several new faces inducted. The new-look government now has 78 ministers.
This includes 30 cabinet ministers, 2 Ministers of State with Independent Charge, and 45 Ministers of State, apart from the PM himself. The number of MOS with Independent Charge has come down significantly, as most of them have been promoted to cabinet ranks.
Ahead of Union Cabinet expansion, 12 Indian Union Ministers including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Prakash Javadekar and D.V. Sadananda Gowda have resigned from their posts of Council of Ministers.
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As advised by the prime minister, India’s President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of 12 ministers.
According to a release by the President’s Office, among 12 ministers who resigned include Thaawarchand Gehlot, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Babul Supriyo, Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao, Rattan Lal Kataria, Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Sushri Debasree Chaudhuri.
It was the first expansion of the union council of ministers by PM Modi in his second term as Prime Minister.
The swearing-in ceremony, which took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan amid COVID-19 protocols, came days ahead of the monsoon session of parliament.
The seven women MP who took an oath of office on Wednesday are Anupriya Patel, Shobha Karandlaje, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi, Annpurna Devi, Pratima Bhoumik and Bharati Pravin Pawar.
Forty-three leaders took oath in the first union cabinet expansion and reshuffle of the Modi government in its second term. The rejig saw OBCs, SCs and youth getting more representation.
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Senior BJP leaders say an attempt is being made to accommodate various castes and communities in wake of impending assembly elections in crucial states including Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Here is the full list of ministers in the union council of ministers, along with their ministries.
| Narendra Modi | Prime Minister and also in-charge of: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space; All important policy issues; and All other portfolios not allocated to any Minister |
CABINET MINISTERS
| 1. | Raj Nath Singh | Minister of Defence |
| 2. | Amit Shah | Minister of Home Affairs; and Minister of Cooperation |
| 3. | Nitin Jairam Gadkari | Minister of Road Transport and Highways |
| 4. | Nirmala Sitharaman | Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs |
| 5. | Narendra Singh Tomar | Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare |
| 6. | Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar | Minister of External Affairs |
| 7. | Arjun Munda | Minister of Tribal Affairs |
| 8. | Smriti Zubin Irani | Minister of Women and Child Development |
| 9. | Piyush Goyal | Minister of Commerce and Industry; Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of Textiles |
| 10. | Dharmendra Pradhan | Minister of Education; and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship |
| 11. | Pralhad Joshi | Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of Coal; and Minister of Mines |
| 12. | Narayan Tatu Rane | Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises |
| 13. | Sarbananda Sonowal | Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; and Minister of AYUSH |
| 14. | Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi | Minister of Minority Affairs |
| 15. | Dr Virendra Kumar | Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment |
| 16. | Giriraj Singh | Minister of Rural Development; and Minister of Panchayati Raj |
| 17. | Jyotiraditya M. Scindia | Minister of Civil Aviation |
| 18. | Ramchandra Prasad Singh | Minister of Steel |
| 19. | Ashwini Vaishnaw | Minister of Railways; Minister of Communications; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology |
| 20. | Pashu Pati Kumar Paras | Minister of Food Processing Industries |
| 21. | Gajendra Singh Shekhawat | Minister of Jal Shakti |
22. | Kiren Rijiju | Minister of Law and Justice |
| 23. | Raj Kumar Singh | Minister of Power; and Minister of New and Renewable Energy |
| 24. | Hardeep Singh Puri | Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs |
| 25. | Mansukh Mandaviya | Minister of Health and Family Welfare; and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers |
| 26. | Bhupender Yadav | Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of Labour and Employment |
| 27. | Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey | Minister of Heavy Industries |
| 28. | Parshottam Rupala | Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying |
| 29. | G. Kishan Reddy | Minister of Culture; Minister of Tourism; and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region |
| 30. | Anurag Singh Thakur | Minister of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports |
MINISTERS OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
| 1. | Rao Inderjit Singh | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs |
| 2. | Dr Jitendra Singh | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences; 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 |
MINISTERS OF STATE
| 1. | Shripad Yesso Naik | Minister of State in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism |
| 2. | Faggansingh Kulaste | Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development |
| 3. | Prahalad Singh Patel | Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries |
| 4. | Ashwini Kumar Choubey | Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change |
| 5. | Arjun Ram Meghwal | Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture |
| 6. | General (Retd.) V. K. Singh | Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation |
| 7. | Krishan Pal | Minister of State in the Ministry of Power; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries |
| 8. | Danve Raosaheb Dadarao | Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways; Minister of State in the Ministry of Coal; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Mines |
| 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 Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development |
| 11. | Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan | Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying |
| 12. | Nityanand Rai | Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs |
| 13. | Pankaj Chaowdhary | Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance |
| 14. | Anupriya Singh Patel | Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry |
| 15. | Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel | Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice |
| 16. | Rajeev Chandrasekhar | Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology |
| 17. | Su Shobha Karandlaje | Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare |
| 18. | Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma | Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises |
| 19. | Darshana Vikram Jardosh | Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways |
| 20. | V. Muraleedharan | Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs |
| 21. | Meenakashi Lekhi | Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture |
| 22. | Som Parkash | Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry |
| 23. | Renuka Singh Saruta | Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs |
| 24. | Rameswar Teli | Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Employment |
| 25. | Kailash Choudhary | Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare |
| 26. | Annpurna Devi | Minister of State in the Ministry of Education |
| 27. | A. Narayanaswamy | Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment |
| 28. | Kaushal Kishore | Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs |
| 29. | Ajay Bhatt | Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism |
| 30. | B. L. Verma | Minister of State in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation |
| 31. | Ajay Kumar | Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs |
| 32. | Devusinh Chauhan | Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications |
| 33. | Bhagwanth Khuba | Minister of State in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers |
| 34. | Kapil Moreshwar Patil | Minister of State in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj |
| 35. | Su Pratima Bhoumik | Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment |
| 36. | Dr Subhas Sarkar | Minister of State in the Ministry of Education |
| 37. | Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad | Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance |
| 38. | Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh | Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Education |
| 39. | Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar | Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare |
| 40. | Bishweswar Tudu | Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti |
| 41. | Shantanu Thakur | Minister of State in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways |
| 42. | Dr. Munjapara Mahendrabhai | Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development; and Minister of State in the Ministry of AYUSH |
| 43. | John Barla | Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs |
| 44. | Dr L. Murugan | Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting |
| 45. | Nisith Pramanik | Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports |
