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2 more women ministers in Modi government

Prime minister inducts Anupriya Patel, Krishna Raj, both from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh
Last Updated 05 July 2016, 20:00 IST

The representation of women in the Modi government has touched double digit with the inclusion of two more ministers.Najma Heptullah was speculated to be dropped because she crossed 75 years of age, which Modi had insisted as the maximum age for ministers, but she has managed to retain her place.

Initially, Modi had inducted seven ministers in his government, but added one during his first expansion on November 9, 2014. On Tuesday, Modi inducted Anupriya Patel and Krishna Raj, both from Uttar Pradesh.

Of the 10, six — Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti, Heptullah, Maneka Gandhi, Harsimrat Kaur and Smriti Irani — are ministers with Cabinet rank, while Nirmala Sitharaman is a minister of state with independent charge.

 Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and the two new entrants are ministers of state.
At present, women constitute 13% of the Ministry. This Lok Sabha has the highest number of women (61) in its 63-year-old history. The BJP has 24 women MPs.

At the time of demitting office, the UPA government had seven women out of 71 and only two were in the Cabinet.

With the induction of M J Akbar, there are three Muslims in the council of ministers. Others are Heptullah and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. There was a speculation that Naqvi may get a promotion if Heptullah is removed from the Cabinet.

With the latest expansion, Uttarakhand, where the BJP won all the five seats, also got representation with Ajay Tamta getting a seat. Tamta, a first-timer in the Lok Sabha, has pipped three former chief ministers B C Khanduri, B S Koshiyari and Ramesh Pokhriyal as well as two-term MP Mala Rajya Laxmi to enter the elite group.

However, 12 states and Union Territories are yet to get representation in the council of ministers.

More from UP

With three more ministers from Uttar Pradesh joining, the state has the highest number of 14 ministers in the Modi dispensation followed by Maharashtra (9). Modi has dropped one minister from Uttar Pradesh, but inducted three others. There are five ministers who belong to the Scheduled Caste community, while two are from Scheduled Tribes.

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(Published 05 July 2016, 20:00 IST)

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