Narendra Modi 2.0: First Meeting of New Cabinet to Take Place Later Today
Out of the 58 Ministers who took oath, 25 have been accorded Cabinet rank, 11 Independent charge and 24 have been assigned as Minister of State (MoS).
New Delhi, May 31: The second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has officially begun, with 58 Ministers of his government taking oath on Thursday. Later today, the first meeting of the new Cabinet will take place. The allocation of portfolios to the newly sworn in Ministers is also expected. Modi Factor And More, Here's What Worked For BJP in Lok Sabha Elections 2019.
Out of the 58 Ministers who took oath, 25 have been accorded Cabinet rank, 11 Independent charge and 24 have been assigned as Minister of State (MoS). The new Ministry is a mix of new and experienced faces. The biggest addition is of former foreign secretary S Jaishankar, who is likely to head the Ministry of External Affairs.
Among major names who have not been included in the Cabinet include Rajyavardhan Rathore, the Sports Minister in the outgoing government; Vijay Goel, MoS of Parliamentary Affairs; Suresh Prabhu, Minister in-charge of Commerce and Industries; Maneka Gandhi, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development; Sushma Swaraj, the External Affairs Minister and Arun Jaitley, the Union Finance Minister.
While Swaraj had hinted political retirement six months ago, Jaitley had requested the Prime Minister to not to include him on grounds of ill-health.
Maneka Gandhi, an eight-time lawmaker, is expected to be appointed as Speaker of 17th Lok Sabha. She has already been assigned the charge of pro-tem speaker by the President on PM Modi's request.
All eyes are set on the role which would be granted to Amit Shah in the new government. Known as Modi's closest aide, Shah was not included in the erstwhile government as the BJP had assigned him the charge of leading the party.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 31, 2019 09:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).