DOGRA HERALD BUREAU
New Delhi, June 10
The Cabinet portfolios in the Narendra Modi-led NDA government were announced Monday with the BJP retaining the top five ministries, including Railways and Petroleum and Natural gas.
Amit Shah retained the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Cooperation while Rajnath Singh retained the Defence Ministry in the NDA’s third term, where BJP did not touch the magic figure of 272.
Nirmala Sitharaman retained the Ministry of Finance. She has also been allocated the Ministry of Corporate affairs. S Jaishankar will continue the charge of leading the Ministry of External Affairs.
While, Nitin Gadkari also retained the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Ajay Tamta and Harsh Malhotra have been appointed as Ministers of State in his ministry.
BJP President JP Nadda, has been assigned the Ministry of Health. Nadda will be replacing Mansukh Mandaviya. The former Health Minister has been given the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the Cabinet.
Dharmendra Pradhan also retained the Ministry of Education, while Bhupendra Yadav retained the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Ashwini Vaishnaw was appointed as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting. The Ministry of Electronic and Telecommunication was also given to him. He also retained the Ministry of Railways.
Former Chief Minister of Haryana and first-time MP, Manohar Lal Khattar, has been allocated the Power Ministry along with Housing and Urban Affairs.
Piyush Goyal has been allocated the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who took oath Sunday, has been allocated Agriculture Ministry and the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, who won the Guna seat from Madhya Pradesh, has been assigned a new role in the Modi 3.0 Cabinet. He has been allocated the Ministry of Telecommunication and Minister of Development of the North Eastern Region. He was the Minister of Civil Aviation in the last Cabinet.
Annpurna Devi will be the new Minister of Women and Child Development, while G. Kishan Reddy will be the Minister of Coal; and Minister of Mines.
The NDA alliance partner, Chirag Paswan got the Minister of Food Processing Industries.
Shripad Yesso Naik has been appointed Minister of State, Power, while Tokhan Sahu has been appointed as MoS, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Ram Mohan Naidu from BJP’s ally Telugu Desam Party, has been appointed the Civil Aviation Minister. The youngest MP took over the ministry from Jyotiraditya Scindia.
CR Patil, the BJP MP from Gujarat, has been appointed as the Minister of Jal Shakti in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet.
BJP MP Kiren Rijiju was allocated two ministries Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs. He was the Minister of Earth Sciences in the previous Modi government.
Prahlad Joshi has been allocated the Food, Consumer Affairs and Renewable Energy ministry.
BJP MP from Odisha Jual Oram got Ministry of Tribal Affairs while Giriraj Singh will be the Minister of Textiles.
HD Kumaraswamy, the MP from BJP ally Janata Dal (Secular), has been allocated the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Ministry of Steel.
Jitan Ram Manjhi from Hindustani Awam Morcha, an ally of the BJP, has been allocated the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.
JD(U) MP Ram Nath Thakur, son of Karpoori Thakur, has been appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Rajiv Rajan Singh, also known as Lalan Singh, an MP from JD(U) and a close aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has been appointed as the Minister of Panchayati Raj and Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
Jayant Chaudhary, the MP from Rashtriya Lok Dal, an ally of BJP in Uttar Pradesh, has entered the cabinet as Minister of State (Independent Charge). Chaudhary has been allocated the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of State in the Ministry of Education.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath of office with 71 ministers Sunday to form the new coalition government.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to the incoming ministers. There are 30 Cabinet Ministers, five Ministers Of State with Independent charge, and 36 Ministers of State.
This time, the Union Cabinet comprises 72 ministers, nine short of its maximum strength of 81 members.
