Modi Sworn In For Third Term; 30 Cabinet Ministers In 71-Member Team

NEW DELHI (ANI) – Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister for his third successive term at an impressive ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on June 9 evening with 71 MPs from the BJP and its allies joining the party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office at the ceremony which was attended by leaders from India’s neighborhood and Indian Ocean region.

Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Bhutan PM Tshering Tobgay, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, Seychelles Vice President Ahmed Afif and Bangladesh PM Sheik Hasina attended the swearing-in ceremony.

Ministers

The council of ministers is a blend of youth and experience with senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar taking oath of office and all of them retaining their portfolions. Several young leaders from BJP and allies, including first-time MPs, also made it to the council of ministers. Actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, who is the first BJP MP from Kerala and Harsh Malhotra, who won Lok Sabha polls from East Delhi, are among the first-time MPs in the union cabinet.

BJP chief JP Nadda also took oath as union minister in an indication that the party could have a new chief.

The government now has 30 cabinet ministers, five Ministers of State with Independent charge, and 36 Ministers of State. Most MPs took the oath in Hindi while some took it in English.

The Union cabinet also has five former chief ministers – Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Manohar Lal Khattar, HD Kumaraswamy,Sarbananda Sonowal and Jitan Ram Manjhi.

Allies of BJP in the party-led NDA including JD-U and TDP joined the union government during the swearing-in ceremony and Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy was the first among the BJP’s partners to take oath of office and secrecy.

Business

Industrialist Mukesh Ambani along with son Anant, Gautam Adani and Kumar Mangalam Birla were also present.

Trouble

NCP did not join the government with its chief Ajit Pawar stating that they did not think it right for their party leader Praful Patel to accept the charge of Minister of State with independent charge as offered by the BJP as he had served as a cabinet minister earlier during the UPA government.