The new Modi government took shape on Friday with BJP President Amit Shah, who played a key role in his party’s electoral triumph, making his debut in the Central government as India’s new Home minister while incumbent Rajnath Singh was moved to Defence.
Joining them in the ‘Big Four’ are NirmalaSitharaman, theoutgoing Defence minister, who is India’s new Minister for Finance andCorporate Affairs, and surprise inductee, former foreign secretary SJaishankar, who got the External Affairs portfolio.
Both Sitharaman, the first full-time woman Finance ministerof India, and Jaishankar, a rare instance of a career diplomat taking charge ofthe External Affairs ministry, have studied in Delhi’s Jawaharlal NehruUniversity.
With the induction of Shah and Jaishankar, there are two newfaces in the all-powerful Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which is chairedby Prime Minister NarendraModi and is the final decision-making body on mattersrelated to country’s security, including defence policy and internal security.
Besides the prime minister, the ministers of Defence, Home,External Affairs and Finance are members of the committee.
Sitharaman steps into the shoes of ArunJaitley who opted outof new government on health grounds. She has a deputy in Anurag Thakur, a firsttime minister in the Modi government. Both are considered close to Jaitley.
The prime minister retains the Department of Personnel andTraining, Atomic Energy and Space as well as all important policy issues andportfolios not allocated.
Modi was sworn in on Thursday as prime minister for a secondterm, helming a 58-member team of ministers.
Giant slayer SmritiIrani, who defeated Congress PresidentRahul Gandhi in his family bastion of Amethi, is the new Women and ChildDevelopment minister along with retaining the Textile ministry, according to acommuniqué issued by the RashtrapatiBhavan.
NitinGadkari, considered one of the best performers duringthe first term of Modi government for his expeditious project implementation,continues to be the minister for Road Transport and Highways and has also beengiven charge of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
PiyushGoyal, who was presented the interim budget earlierthis year and was expected to take over from Jaitley, has been given theCommerce and Industry ministry in addition to his old charge of Railways.However, the Coal ministry has been taken away from him and given to PralhadJoshi, a new entrant in Modi Government.
Joshi is also the minister of Parliamentary Affairs andMines.
Goyal said improving passenger experience and modernisingthe railways will be his focus areas.
“I am happy that there will be continuity in the workthat we had begun in the first stint. The many work that we have started willbe continued. I hope that we will be able to improve the passenger experienceas well as the process of loading of goods,” Goyal said.
Ravi Shankar Prasad continues as minister of Law andInformation Technology. He also gets Telecom, a portfolio he commanded in the firsthalf of Modi 1.0 government.
A new Ministry of Jal Shakti has been created and GajendraSingh Shekhawat is its minister.
Ujjwala-man Dharmendra Pradhan retains his Petroleumportfolio and has also been given charge of the Steel ministry.
Former Uttarkhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhariyal ‘Nishank’is the new Human Resource Development minister while Bihar ally andLokJanshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswam remains Consumer Affairs minister.
The Agriculture ministry has been allocated to NarendraSingh Tomar who also gets the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj portfolio.
Prakash Javadekar has been given the ministries ofInformation and Broadcasting as well as Environment.
D V SadanandaGowda is the minister of Chemicals andFertilizers and Narendra Singh Tomar the new minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.
Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal continues to be theminister of Food Processing Industries, Thawar Chand Gehlot is the new ministerof Social Justice and Empowerment.
Former diplomat HardeepPuri is the new minister of statewith Independent charge of Civil Aviation while former IAS bureaucrat R K Singhretains the ministries of Power and Renewable Energy in the same capacity.
Eight-term BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh Santosh Kumar Gangwaris MoS with Independent charge for Labour and Employment.The BJP capped a massive mandate by winning atotal of 303 seats while the NDA has 353 MPs in the recently elected 17thLokSabha.