Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi on Sunday (June 9) for his third term in a row, scripting history, equalling the feat of the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. A total 72 leaders from the NDA were sworn in at a grand event administered by President Droupadi Murmu. Uttar Pradesh, where the ruling alliance did not perform well, got 10 Union ministers.
The NDA faced serious reverses in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh while the I.N.D.I.A bloc made massive gains with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party crediting its "PDA" formula for the victory. PDA stands for the SP's focus on 'Pichhra (backward), Dalit, Alpsankhyak (minorities)'.
NDA strikes caste balance
NDA picked ministers from the state with caste balance weighing heavily. In the Modi 3.0 government, five backwards, two Dalits and three forward caste leaders from UP have been inducted into the Council of Ministers. In the formation of the new government, five members of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community from UP including Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been included.
Besides Modi (Teli-Vaishya community), the other ministers are
- Jayant Chaudhary (Jat)
- Pankaj Chaudhary (Kurmi)
- Anupriya Patel (Kurmi)
- BL Verma (Lodh)
- Kamlesh Paswan (Pasi)
- SP Baghel (Dhangar) from the Dalit community
Three leaders from the so called upper castes have been given an opportunity in the Union Council of Ministers. Rajnath Singh and Minister of State Kirtivardhan Singh, who took oath second after Modi, come from the Kshatriya community, while another Minister of State Jitin Prasada represents the Brahmin community.
Among the ministers included in the Modi 3.0 government (from allies) are RLD's Jayant Chaudhary who was awarded the post of Minister of State with independent charge, Anupriya Patel, the chief of Apna Dal (S), who has been in the NDA since 2014, has been successful in becoming a Minister of State for the third time.
Other BJP allies in UP, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) led by UP government's Panchayati Raj Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar and Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) led by UP's Fisheries Minister Sanjay Nishad, did not get a place in the council of ministers as they suffered defeat in the polls.
SBSP chief's son Arvind Rajbhar lost to SP candidate Rajiv Rai in Ghosi, while former MP Praveen Nishad, son of the NISHAD Party chief who contested on the BJP symbol in Sant Kabir Nagar, also lost his seat.
Dalit leader Chandrashekhar Azad, who contested the election alone, won the Nagina seat. The BSP could not manage to win even a single Lok Sabha seat this time.
(With PTI inputs)
