In what can be described as a historic moment, PM Modi took oath as the Prime Minister of India for a second consecutive term. Along with him, the cabinet ministers, Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and Ministers of State also took oath. 22 new names entered the Council of Ministers out of which seven have been sworn in as cabinet ministers, one as MoS (Independent Charge) and 14 as MoS. The fresh faces which have been inducted in the cabinet are as follows:
- Amit Shah
Amit Shah is the most prominent fresh face to be included in the Modi cabinet. As a BJP president, Shah was instrumental in the meteoric rise of the BJP in several states. Things worked out really well during the Lok Sabha polls too. Amit Shah contested the Lok Sabha polls from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat and won by a comfortable margin. As a cabinet minister, Amit Shah is set to play an even more crucial role. This officially makes him the second-in-command of the Modi government.
2. S Jaishankar
The inclusion of S Jaishankar turned out to be a surprising move on the part of the government. S Jaishankar enjoyed an illustrious career as a diplomat having served as an Ambassador to the United States, China, and the Czech Republic and as High Commissioner to Singapore. He also served in the capacity of Foreign Secretary between 2015 to 2018 and therefore, played a crucial role as far as India’s international relations during the previous tenure of the Modi government. As such S Jaishankar is expected to bring the rich experience behind him on board as a cabinet minister.
3. Ramesh Pokhriyal:
The senior leader from the state of Uttarakhand has been inducted in the Modi government. He served as the chief minister of the hilly state between 2009 and 2011. He had also held multiple positions in the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh. He won the Lok Sabha elections from the Haridwar Lok Sabha constituency for a second consecutive time.
4. Arjun Munda
Arjun Munda is a very popular face in the state of Jharkhand and was also instrumental in the creation of the state in the 1990s. He had also become the chief minister of the state at a young age of 35 years in 2013. Arjun Munda contested the Lok Sabha polls from the Khunti (ST) and defeated the Congress candidate, Kalicharan Munda with a narrow margin.
5.Prahlad Joshi
Joshi is a senior BJP leader from the state of Karnataka, having won from the Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency three times on a trot since 2009. In 2014, he was also made a part of the pool which helps the Lok Sabha speaker in chariring the proceedings of the House when both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are absent.
6. Mahendra Nath Pandey
He was given the responsibility of the Uttar Pradesh unit of BJP in 2017. He is also reported to have led the party’s charge during the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. In the previous Modi government, he had served as a Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
7. Arvind Sawant
The Shiv Sena leader has been inducted in the cabinet in what reflects the inclusive brand of PM Modi’s functioning. Even though the BJP has crossed the majority mark on its own, the allies have not been left out. Sawant is seen as a crucial face in the Shiv Sena and a close aide of the party supremo Uddhav Thackrey. Having contested from the South Mumbai seat in 2014 and 2019. He defeated the Congress candidate Milind Deora both the times. In 2014, Sawant was considered a weak candidate against Deora. However, Sawant has proved his worth by defeating Deora for the second consecutive time.