Modi 3.0 Cabinet: Six former Chief Ministers took oath as Union Ministers in the Modi government 3.0 today (June 9). The new cabinet of 30 ministers includes Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Rajnath Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam), H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka), and Jitan Ram Manjhi (Bihar). While five of these former chief ministers are from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kumaraswamy and Manjhi represent two of the BJP's allies -- JD(S) and Hindustani Awam Morcha, respectively.
Check full list here:
- Rajnath Singh: Rajnath Singh entered politics in 1974 and in 1977, he was elected as an MLA in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Singh was elected as MLC for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council in 1988 and became Education Minister in 1991. Singh became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on October 28, 2000, and was twice elected as MLA from Haidargarh constituency in Barabanki. As the defence minister since 2019, he initiated several path-breaking measures to strengthen India's combat readiness along the border with China as well as boost the country's defence manufacturing.
- Shivraj Singh Chouhan: The three-time CM of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan is popularly known as 'Mamaji' in the state due to the welfare schemes for women during his tenure as the CM, particularly his 'Ladli Behna' scheme. Chouhan was first elected to the MP assembly from Budhni constituency in 1990. He was elected as MP for the first time from the Vidisha constituency the following year. He was re-elected from the seat in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004. In 2020, when the then Congress government collapsed, the BJP central leadership, in a surprise move, chose Chouhan as the CM for the fourth term when the COVID-19 pandemic was peaking in the state.
- Manohar Lal Khattar: The former two-time Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar was fielded from the Karnal constituency in the recent Lok Sabha elections and he won by an impressive margin of 2,32,577 votes. He first became chief minister of a BJP government in Haryana in 2019. Khattar belongs to a Hindu Punjabi family that migrated to India during the Partition.
- Sarbananda Sonowal: Sarbananda Sonowal was inducted into the Narendra Modi-led cabinet for the third time. Sonowal was Modi’s obvious choice as the chief minister of Assam when the saffron party won for the first time in the northeast in 2016. He was promoted to the Union cabinet with significant portfolios including Shipping, Waterways, Port, and Ayush in the subsequent reshuffle in 2021. The Rajya Sabha MP, a law graduate, is considered an honest politician who furthered the party’s fight against corruption in the state.
- H D Kumaraswamy: Two-time chief minister and five-time MLA JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has once again demonstrated his political acumen by bagging a seat in the Union Council of Ministers, despite his party joining the BJP-led NDA just last year. Kumaraswamy was chief minister in 2006 and 2018. Kumaraswamy, who is also the state JD(S) president, is a five time MLA, and until recently represented the Channapatna assembly seat.
- Jitan Ram Manjhi: Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) founder Jitan Ram Manjhi, who has been a formidable force in Bihar's political arena, was made a central minister. Manjhi's political journey took a dramatic turn when, in 2014, he was unexpectedly anointed Chief Minister by Nitish Kumar, who had resigned after a disastrous Lok Sabha election. Since 2014, he has relentlessly pursued the Gaya Lok Sabha seat, facing one crushing defeat after another before finally wresting the seat this time. His earlier career saw him as the minister for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare in Nitish Kumar's cabinet. From 1996 to 2005, he served under the RJD government with Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, showcasing his political versatility.
Narendra Modi took oath as PM for third consecutive time
Narendra Modi on Sunday took oath as Prime Minister of India for the third consecutive time making him the second person after Jawaharlal Nehru to take oath of the office three back-to-back times. The grand ceremony took place at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, like they happened in 2014 and 2019. Along with Modi, NDA leaders including members of alliance partners also took the oath of office as Cabinet and counsil of ministers.
In 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single-largest party winning 240 seats, however, it fall short of achieving the full majority which is 272. But together with the National Democratic Alliance, the saffron camp stands at 292, more than required numbers to form the government. With the support of Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Jayant Chaudhary's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), among other alliance members, the BJP-led NDA government has taken shape. Let's take a look at newly inducted Cabinet and Counsil of Ministers in the Modi 3.0.
Also Read: Modi Cabinet 3.0: List of leaders inducted as ministers in BJP-led NDA government
