Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi is set to signal continuity in his third term by including most key figures from his outgoing government in the new Council of Ministers to be sworn in on Sunday evening.
Among the prominent returning ministers are Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, and S. Jaishankar, who previously held the crucial portfolios of home, defence, finance, and external affairs, respectively. Other senior members such as Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Hardeep Singh Puri are also expected to retain their positions.
Over 65 ministers are anticipated to take oath, according to visuals from a recent meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers. Notably absent from the list is Anurag Thakur, the outgoing information and broadcasting minister who won his seat in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur constituency. Thakur was not invited to the customary pre-swearing-in meeting with Modi.
Other key omissions include Smriti Irani, who faced a significant defeat in Amethi, and Parshottam Rupala, whose remarks about the Rajput community during the elections caused considerable controversy. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who narrowly lost to Shashi Tharoor, is also unlikely to feature in the new government.
Despite these exclusions, a majority of the outgoing ministers are set to continue. New faces from the BJP include Manohar Lal Khattar, C R Paatil, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and Ravneet Singh Bittu. The fresh additions also feature several BJP allies such as TDP's Ram Mohan Naidu and Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, JD(U)'s Lalan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur, Shiv Sena's Prataprao Jadhav, LJP's Chirag Paswan, HAM's Jitan Ram Manjhi, JD(S)'s H D Kumaraswamy, RLD's Jayant Chaudhary, and RPI(A)'s Ramdas Athawale.
Notable returning BJP ministers include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bhupender Yadav, Pralhad Joshi, Giriraj Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Jitendra Singh, S. P. S. Baghel, Annapurna Devi, Virendra Kumar, Pankaj Chaudhary, Shobha Karandlaje, Krishna Pal Gurjar, and L. Murugan. Additional expected members are G Kishan Reddy, Sukanta Majumdar, Rao Inderjit Singh, Nityanand Rai, and Bhagirath Choudhary.
Jitin Prasada from Uttar Pradesh and Raksha Khadse from Maharashtra are also slated to join the new government, with Khadse confirming her inclusion to the media. There is speculation that BJP national president J. P. Nadda, whose extended tenure ends this month, might also be inducted back into the government.
Ravneet Bittu, who lost his Lok Sabha seat, is likely to be included due to his significant profile as the BJP seeks to strengthen its presence in Punjab. Sanjay Seth from Ranchi and former Union minister Jual Oram from Odisha are also expected to take oath.
Here is a state-wise list of BJP ministers in the new government: From Gujarat, the ministers include Amit Shah, Mansukh Mandavia, S. Jaishankar, C. R. Patil, and Nimuben Bambhania. Maharashtra is represented by Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, and Raksha Khadse. Madhya Pradesh has Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Jyotiraditya Scindia. Uttar Pradesh includes Rajnath Singh and Jitin Prasada.
Rajasthan is represented by Arjun Meghwal, Gajendra Shekhawat, and Bhagirath Choudhary. From Tamil Nadu, Nirmala Sitharaman and K. Annamalai are included. Odisha has Ashwini Vaishnav and Dharmendra Pradhan. Kerala is represented by Suresh Gopi. Haryana includes Manohar Lal Khattar and Indrajeet Rao.
The North East has Kiren Rijiju and Sarbananda Sonowal. Jammu & Kashmir is represented by Jitendra Singh. From Delhi, Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Harsh Malhotra are included. Telangana has G. Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar. Punjab is represented by Hardeep Puri and Ravneet Bittu. Bihar includes Giriraj Singh and Nityanand Rai. Karnataka is represented by Shobha Karandlaje, and Uttarakhand includes Ajay Tamta.
