Modi 3.0 kicks off on continuity note: Key ministers retain portfolios

With at least a dozen of the leading Union Cabinet ministers retaining the portfolios they had handled in the previous government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed a message of continuity in governance. This is despite the induction of five members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners into the Union Cabinet.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) members remain unchanged. Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, and S Jaishankar retained their portfolios of Defence, Home Affairs and Cooperation, Finance and Corporate Affairs, and External Affairs, respectively. Nitin Gadkari will continue to handle the Road Transport and Highways portfolio.

Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Dharmendra Pradhan, Sarabananda Sonowal, Hardeep Puri, and Bhupender Yadav retained at least the principal portfolios that they had handled in the previous government. The PM divested them of their additional portfolios to accommodate newer entrants and allies. Goyal, for example, retained the Commerce and Industry portfolio, but Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution were taken away. Vaishnaw retained Railways and Information Technology, but lost Telecom. He, however, got Information & Broadcasting Ministry too. In the last Cabinet, the I&B Ministry was with Anurag Thakur, who’s been dropped in Modi 3.0 despite winning in the recent elections. The Communications portfolio that Vaishnaw handled has now gone to Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was the Civil Aviation minister in the previous government. Among others, the ministries of Power and New and Renewable Energy were also separated.

Rashtrapati Bhavan announced the portfolios on Monday evening, almost 24 hours after the 72-member council of ministers took the oath of office and a couple of hours after the first meeting of the Union Cabinet, which approved  government assistance for construction of 30 million houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). Earlier in the day, in his first decision after taking charge for the third time, the PM signed a file transferring the 17th installment of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi fund, amounting to nearly Rs 20,000 crore, to around 93 million farmers.

The significant change in the Cabinet was the return of JP Nadda, who was BJP president, to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, a portfolio he had managed in the Modi 1.0 government. The PM also entrusted him with the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers. Mansukh Mandaviya had handled the two portfolios in the previous government and will take care of Labour and Employment, Youth Affairs and Sports. The change in the Sports Ministry comes right ahead of the Olympics in July. 

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, credited with turning around his state’s agriculture production during his stint as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, was tasked with the Rural Development, Agriculture, and Farmers Welfare portfolios. Manohar Lal Khattar, the former Haryana CM, was asked to look after Power, Housing and Urban Affairs ministries.

Among the allies, the PM entrusted Janata Dal (Secular)’s HD Kumaraswamy with the ministries of Heavy Industries and Steel. Janata Dal (United)’s Rajeev Ranjan Singh will take care of Panchayati Raj, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. Another of the BJP’s allies in Bihar, Jitan Ram Manjhi, will handle the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises portfolio. Telugu Desam Party’s K Rammohan Naidu is the new Minister of Civil Aviation, and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)’s Chirag Paswan is the Minister of Food Processing Industries.

G Kishan Reddy, BJP’s Telangana leader, who had taken care of the ministries of culture, tourism and Development of the North Eastern Region (DONER) in the previous government, will now take care of the ministries of Coal and Mine. C R Patil, the BJP’s Gujarat state unit chief known for his organisational skills, will handle the Jal Shakti Ministry.

Shiv Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav has been made the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ayush Ministry and MoS for Health and Family Welfare. Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Jayant Chaudhary is the MoS (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and the MoS in the Education Ministry.

Earlier in the day, media reports suggested that Union Minister and actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi wanted to exit the council of ministers. Later, he called the reports “grossly incorrect”. Media platforms had reported that Gopi, the BJP’s first ever Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, was upset at being made an MoS. In other murmurs of discontent, Shiv Sena MP Shrirang Barne expressed disappointment over the party not getting a Cabinet berth. However, party MP Shrikant Shinde, the son of party chief and Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, clarified that the party was supporting the government unconditionally. However, the Sena MP’s comments came a day after the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar said the party would wait for a Cabinet berth rather than accepting a Minister of State position offered by the BJP.

First Published: Jun 11 2024 | 12:35 AM IST