As the sun set behind the imposing silhouette of Rashtrapati Bhawan, Narendra Modi took the oath as Prime Minister for the third time.
Modi signaled continuity as he retained top ministers: Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, S. Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Jyotiraditya Scindia.
In total, 72 ministers were sworn in, with 30 holding cabinet rank, including those from allies like TDP, JD(U), LJP, JDS, and HAM. Out of these 72, 60 are from the BJP. Modi has kept the balance in favour of BJP, but is likely to adopt a more consensual approach for governance.
Those who took oath included 36 ministers of state and five ministers of state with independent charge.
Dressed in a blue jacket, Modi took the oath for a historic third time, becoming only the second PM after Jawaharlal Nehru to do so, on a muggy day in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan. The oath was administered by President Draupadi Murmu.
Visitors included heads of state from neighboring countries—Bangladesh, Nepal, Mauritius, Maldives, and Bhutan—who witnessed the ceremony lasting over two and a half hours. Also spotted in the audience were Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, industrialist Mukesh Ambani, and a host of religious leaders.
Modi has kept social and caste considerations in mind, with 27 OBCs, 10 SC, five ST, and five representing minority communities. Modi rewarded those MPs who have been elected for three terms.
As many as 43 ministers have served three terms or higher in parliament while 39 have served as union ministers before.
Among the notable new inclusions was BJP chief J.P. Nadda, sworn in as a cabinet minister, signaling a change in the party organization. He was the fifth to be sworn in, thus deciding the pecking order in the new cabinet.
The new entrants included former chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Manohar Lal Khattar from the BJP, JDU’s Rajeev Ranjan Singh, and TDP’s Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu. With Rajnath Singh, Sarbananda Sonowal, and JD(S) president Kumaraswamy, Hindustan Awam Party chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, there are six former CMs in the cabinet.
Other new cabinet ministers included C.R. Patil, the BJP Gujarat president, who is apparently rewarded for the party's performance during the assembly and Lok Sabha polls. Promoted ministers included Jitendra Singh and Giriraj Singh.
Thirty-four ministers have served in state legislatures with 23 of them having served as state ministers.
Several ministers were dropped, and new ones picked up owing to unfolding political realities after the results. Anurag Thakur was dropped as Nadda, who represents Himachal Pradesh, was picked up.
The cabinet will have two Sikhs, Hardeep Puri, and among the new entrants, Ravneet Singh Bittu, the Ludhiana candidate who lost to his Congress rival. He was the only losing candidate inducted into the cabinet as MoS.
From Kerala, Modi rewarded Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi, BJP’s first elected MP from the state, with an MoS post, along with George Kurian.
The largest representation was given to Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar in terms of ministerial berths. Most of the allies, barring Ajit Pawar’s NCP, have been represented in the cabinet.
After the swearing-in, the government is likely to allocate ministries. The communique regarding this will be released by Rashtrapati Bhawan. The focus will now shift to the government’s 100-day plan. The tenure began on a challenging note with reports of a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on a pilgrim bus.
Modi will have to negotiate with the allies as some of them have raised concerns over Agniveer and the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code.
The big change expected would be the appointment of the new BJP chief. As Most of the leaders whose names were being considered for the BJP chief, like ML Khattar, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Bhupendra Yadav, were made ministers, a surprise pick is expected in the next few weeks.
