A total of 71 took oath as ministers in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Sunday, days after the NDA returned to the power winning majority in the Lok Sabha elections.
There was a dozen of minister from BJP allies while the rest were from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Union Ministers like Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman have been retained in the NDA’s third term while Smriti Irani and Anurag Thakur have been dropped.
The Prime Minister’s new team includes 30 other Cabinet Ministers, 5 Ministers of State with Independent Charge and 36 Ministers of State (MoS).
These ministers represent 24 States, as well as all regions within states. The maximum number of nine ministers are from Uttar Pradesh followed by eight from Bihar. As many as 27 ministers are from OBC, 10 from SC, 5 from ST, five from minorities.
43 ministers are serving 3 terms or higher in Parliament and 39 having been Ministers in Government of India before bring a wealth of central experience in the government. Ministers also include multiple former CMs, 34 having served in State legislatures, and 23 having worked as Ministers in States.