Modi 3.0 Cabinet to meet Monday; here's the composition of NDA government, including 33 first-timers
NEW DELHI: The first Cabinet meeting of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government will take place on Monday around 5pm. With a 72-member Council of Ministers taking oath on Sunday in the third term of the Modi government, it is only nine short of the maximum permissible strength of 81 and six less than the maximum of 78 ministers the Modi government had between 2019 and 2024.
The Modi government had reached its maximum strength of 78 in 2021 after expansion, but the outgoing council of ministers had 72 members, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The third term of the BJP-led NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a maximum of 31 cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Modi, besides five Ministers of State (with Independent Charge) and 36 ministers of state.
In the outgoing Modi government 2.0, there were 71 ministers, including 26 Cabinet ministers, three Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and 42 Ministers of State.
In July 2021, when the cabinet was expanded, there were a maximum of 78 ministers with 30 cabinet ministers, 2 Ministers of State (Independent charge) and 45 Ministers of State.
The maximum strength of the Council of Ministers is 81, including the prime ministers, which is 15 per cent of the total strength of 543 in the Lok Sabha.
In May 2019, 57 ministers were sworn in, including 24 as cabinet ministers, nine Ministers of State (Independent charge) and 24 Ministers of State.
During the first term, when he wrested power from the Congress in May 2014, Prime Minister Modi had 46 ministers, including 24 cabinet ministers, 10 Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and 12 Ministers of State.
This included the prime minister himself.
In May 2009, the Manmohan Singh government had the maximum strength of 79 ministers, including the prime minister.
During UPA-1 too, the Manmohan Singh-led government touched the maximum strength of 79 ministers.
The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999 had a total of 74 ministers.
33 first-timers in Modi govt 3.0
With the third Modi government taking shape on Sunday, 33 first-timers will grace its ranks and at least six of them hail from well-known political families.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers: Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and HD Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
Chouhan is a five-time MP from Vidisha, a constituency represented by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the past.
He is also the longest-serving chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.
A former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak, Khattar served as the chief minister of Haryana twice.
He resigned from the post in March after ally JJP withdrew support from the government.
Seven first-time ministers in the Modi government belong to the allies: TDP's K Rammohan Naidu and Chandrasekhar Pemmasani; JDU's Lalan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur, RLD's Jayant Chaudhary, LJP's Chirag Paswan and HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S).
Jayant Chaudhary, the 45-year-old national chairman of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), is the grandson of Chaudhary Charan Singh, India's fifth Prime Minister, and the son of former Union minister Chaudhary Ajit Singh.
Chaudhary, previously associated with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, joined the NDA ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections after the BJP posthumously honoured his grandfather with the Bharat Ratna in February this year. Under his leadership, the RLD secured two seats in western Uttar Pradesh, Baghpat and Bijnor, with significant margins of over 4,88,000 and 37,500 votes, respectively.
Chirag Paswan, son of the late Ram Vilas Paswan, one of Bihar's most influential leaders, is set to make his debut as a minister in the central government. He won the Hajipur seat, held by his father for a record nine times, by a margin of 1.7 lakh votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
His party, LJP (Ram Vilas), swept all five seats it contested in Bihar under the NDA umbrella, making a resounding comeback from the tumultuous period following Ram Vilas Paswan's death in 2020.
Ram Nath Thakur, from the Janata Dal (United), is the son of Karpoori Thakur, a renowned socialist leader and former Chief Minister of Bihar who was awarded the Bharat Ratna earlier this year. Hailing from Samastipur, the 74-year-old leader is known for his close association with Nitish Kumar and his influence among the most backward classes. He previously served as a Bihar minister between 2005 and 2010.
Ravneet Singh Bittu, the grandson of Punjab's former Chief Minister Beant Singh, who was assassinated by a Khalistani militant organisation in 1995, is a new entrant to the Modi ministry.
Bittu switched from the Congress to the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He contested from Ludhiana and lost to Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring by over 20,000 votes.
Bittu (48), previously represented Punjab's Anandpur Sahib in Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2014 and Ludhiana from 2014 to 2024.
Raksha Khadse, the daughter-in-law of senior NCP leader Eknath Khadse, who played a key role in building the BJP in Maharashtra, was sworn in as Union minister. She retained her Raver seat, winning it for the third time on the trot. At the age of 26, she along with Heena Gavit, became the youngest MPs after winning the 2014 general elections. Her husband Nikhil Khadse allegedly died by suicide at the age of 37.
From being one of the youngest ministers in the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government, Jitin Prasada will return to the Union Council of Ministers after 10 years. He quit the Congress to join the BJP in 2021. His father Jitendra Prasada, a former vice-president of the Congress, served as political advisor to two prime ministers -- Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and P V Narasimha Rao in 1994.
A trusted friend of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rajiv Ranjan, popularly known as Lalan Singh, represents the Munger Lok Sabha seat in Bihar.
The new faces also include Suresh Gopi, the actor-turned-politician who scripted history by becoming the first BJP MP from Kerala.
The first-timers from the BJP are Kamlesh Paswan (Uttar Pradesh), Sukanta Majumder (West Bengal), Durga Das Uikey (Madhya Pradesh), Raj Bhushan Chaudhary (Bihar), Satish Dubey (Bihar), Sanjay Seth (Jharkhand), C R Paatil (Gujarat), Bhagirath Chaudhary (Rajasthan), Harsh Malhotra (Delhi), V Somanna (Karnataka), Savitri Thakur (MP).
Prataprao Jadhav (Maharashtra), George Kurian (Kerala), Kirti Vardhan Singh (UP), Tokhan Sahu (Chhattisgarh), Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma (Andhra Pradesh), Nimuben Bambhniya (Gujarat), Murlidhar Mohol (Maharashtra), Pabitra Margherita (Assam) and Bandi Sanjay Kumar (Telangana), are also among the BJP first-timers.