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Modi takes charge with 45 ministers

Last Updated 26 May 2014, 21:40 IST

Narendra Damodardas Modi, who marshalled the BJP-led NDA to a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections, took oath as the 15th Prime Minister of India on Monday.

The ceremony was attended by heads of six Saarc nations and a galaxy of leaders.

Along with the 63-year-old Prime Minister, 45 other ministers took oath, making his government the leanest-ever to assume office to keep up his pledge of “minimum government and maximum governance”.

President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office and secrecy to Modi, whose saga from a tea-seller on a railway platform to the highest office became part of India’s modern political legend.
The 90-minute event was watched by heads of Saarc nations for the first time.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa were present. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and two former presidents, A P J Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil, attended the ceremony.

Notably, Modi has put a stamp of his authority on the choice of ministers. He has succeeded in keeping out veteran leaders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who are above 70 years of age. Advani seemed to have lost the race for the Lok Sabha speakership on Sunday.

Though Modi is to distribute the portfolios only on Tuesday, he did give indications of the pecking order. Party president Rajnath Singh took oath immediately after Modi, making him effectively number-2 in the government. He is likely to head the Home Ministry. As BJP president, Singh had a key role in Modi’s elevation as the party's prime ministerial candidate despite opposition from Advani and Sushma Swaraj.

After Singh, it was Sushma Swaraj who took oath. She is expected to be the External Affairs Minister though it was speculated earlier that she might get Defence. She may be assisted by former Army Chief General V K Singh as Minister of State (MoS). Singh, who is the Ghaziabad MP, will also have the independent charge of North-East Affairs.

Arun Jaitley is tipped to be the Finance Minister and might also hold additional charge of Defence. He will be assisted in the Defence Ministry by Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh, an MoS. Singh, who jumped to the BJP from the Congress, will also have independent charge of Statistics and Planning.

Modi’s reported decision to entrust two key portfolios to Jaitley raised the possibility of the new PM giving the responsibility to a person of his choice at a later stage. Earlier, the suggestion was that it could be former Union minister Arun Shourie. However, Shourie did not find favour in the BJP or the RSS, party insiders said.

The fourth BJP leader to be sworn in was former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu who is likely to become the Parliamentary Affairs Minister. Another former party president, Nitin Gadkari, is expected to handle the Transport ministry. Former Karnataka chief minister Sadananda Gowda will run the Railways.

Senior BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar is likely to be Information and Broadcasting Minister and may also head the Environment Ministry. Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti will be Union Minister for Water Resources while Najma Heptulla will handle Minority Affairs.

Former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde is expected to get the Rural Development Ministry.

Former UP BJP chief Kalraj Mishra has also been made a Cabinet minister. Maneka Gandhi will be Union Minister for Women and Child Development. Ananth Kumar will be the Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister.

Smriti Irani, 38, who took on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, is tipped to be the HRD Minister. Ravi Shankar Prasad may get the Law Ministry and also handle Telecom. Narendra Singh Tomar, Madhya Pradesh BJP chief, is also in the Cabinet. Jual Oram will be in charge of Tribal Affairs. Radha Mohan Singh, a Bihar BJP leader, will hold the key portfolio of Agriculture.

Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan, who defeated journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh of the Aam Aadmi Party, and former Union minister Kapil Sibal from Chandni Chowk, could be the new Health Minister.

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman is tipped to be the new Commerce Minister with an independent charge. BJP Rajya Sabha member Piyush Goel is likely to be Power and Coal Minister with independent charge.

BJP general secretary Dharmendra Pradhan, who handled Bihar, could get independent charge of the high-profile Oil Ministry.

As for the BJP’s allies, Bihar leader Ram Vilas Paswan will get Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs. TDP’s Ashok Gajapathi Raju will be the Civil Aviation Minister. Akali leader Harsimrat Kaur will be the Food Processing Minister.

Despite Modi’s bid to give representation to all regions, his Cabinet did not seem to have space for leaders from several states like West Bengal, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and some from the northeast.

Nihal Chand was the only MP from Rajasthan, where all 25 LS?seats were won by the BJP, to get a berth. Modi is likely to induct more ministers from the state later. Pon Radhakrishnan, the only MP from Tamil Nadu, was inducted as an MoS.

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(Published 26 May 2014, 21:40 IST)

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