All set for the second innings, Modi’s Cabinet saw titans like Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj opt out; but a new heavyweight Amit Shah joins the government.
After the swearing in ceremony, of the new Modi cabinet, prominent leaders have been allotted different ministries in the government. 2019 sees a major reshuffle in the portfolios allotted as the announcement of ministries were made by President Ram Nath Kovind.
There is more of a juggle in the top four ministries, with other portfolios largely remaining with those who held them in the outgoing government.
Few highlights of the 2019 Council of Ministers:
- BJP president Amit Shah will be the new Home Minister of India whereas former Home Minister Rajnath Singh gets the Defence ministry.
- Former Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been allotted finance and corporate affairs. On the other hand former foreign secretary S. Jaishankar will be new External Affairs Minister.
- Amethi winner, Smriti Irani sees an addition to her responsibility as she gets her previous ministry of Textiles, a portfolio she held earlier in addition with Women and Child Development ministry.
- Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” is the new Minister for Human Resources, while Prakash Javadekar has been made environment and forests minister.
- BJP leader Gajendra Singh Shekhawat gets promoted as the Cabinet minister for “Jal Shakti”. It was pointed out by Modi at BJP’s manifesto launched in April. Shekhawat was the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and represented the Jodhpur parliamentary constituency in the previous government.
- However, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal have retained their old portfolios of Law, Petroleum and Railways respectively. The crucial Agriculture Ministry has been allotted to Narendra Tomar, who will also hold Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.
- However, former External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will not be a part of the current cabinet, as she had chosen to quietly step aside by not contesting the polls. Replacing her, former foreign secretary S. Jaishankar will take the charge.
- On the other hand Maneka Gandhi, Suresh Prabhu and Radha Mohan Singh have been dropped for their ‘unsatisfactory performance’, as per the sources.
Below is a list of Union Ministers who have been bestowed with strong portfolios with heavy responsibilities in Prime Minister Modi’s Council.
