Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi is set to give a message of continuity in his new term by inducting most key faces of his outgoing government in the Council of Ministers to be sworn on Sunday evening.
Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar, who held home, defence, finance and external affairs ministries respectively in the outgoing government, besides its other senior members such as Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Hardeep Singh Puri will be part of the new government.
Over 65 ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
However, there are some notable exclusions. Anurag Thakur, the outgoing information and broadcasting minister who secured his seat in Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur constituency, was not present at the pre-swearing-in meeting with Modi, indicating his potential omission from the new cabinet. Similarly, Smriti Irani, who faced a significant defeat in Amethi, and Parshottam Rupala, who despite winning his seat had stirred controversy during the campaign, are also likely to be absent from the new lineup. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who lost to Shashi Tharoor, is another likely exclusion.
The new faces in Modi’s cabinet are primarily from BJP allies, signifying a broad coalition effort. Leaders such as Manohar Lal Khattar, C R Paatil, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and Ravneet Singh Bittu are among the fresh additions from the BJP. Allies from parties like the TDP, JD(U), Shiv Sena, and other NDA members will also be represented, including names like Ram Mohan Naidu, Lalan Singh, Prataprao Jadhav, Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, and H D Kumaraswamy.
Many outgoing ministers will continue in their roles, including Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bhupender Yadav, Pralhad Joshi, Giriraj Singh, and others. New additions from the BJP such as Jitin Prasada from Uttar Pradesh and Raksha Khadse from Maharashtra have also been confirmed.
In efforts to bolster BJP’s presence in Punjab, Ravneet Singh Bittu, despite losing his Lok Sabha seat, is likely to be inducted due to his significant political profile. Other expected additions include BJP MPs Sanjay Seth from Ranchi and Jual Oram from Odisha, the latter being a former Union minister.
The swearing-in ceremony on Sunday evening will mark the formal commencement of Modi’s new term, with a cabinet that blends experience with strategic new faces to address India’s pressing challenges and opportunities.