Podcast | PM Modi’s New Cabinet Sworn in - Who’s In & Who’s Out?

Many new faces, some missing names, and many returning ministers - Here’s who made the cut and who didn’t.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the newly sworn-in council of ministers in a group photograph after the oath-taking ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

(Photo: PTI)

PM Narendra Modi was sworn in for his second term on 30 May 2019. His new cabinet of ministers includes many familiar names, some new ones, and drops a few key people from the list.

Who made the cut, who didn’t?

Listen to the podcast for the complete analysis:

PM Modi’s 2019 Cabinet: Who’s Been Dropped?

Sushma Swaraj, Rajyavardhan Rathore and Mahesh Sharma are among the notable omissions in the BJP-led NDA's second innings.

Despite winning their seats, eight-time MP Maneka Gandhi, six-time MP Radhamohan Singh, Sharma, Jayant Sinha, Anupriya Patel, Jual Oram, Ram Kripal Yadav and Rathore lost their ministerial berths.

There were many from Modi's previous Cabinet who either did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections or suffered defeat.

Swaraj had opted out of fighting the polls due to health reasons.

Another key BJP leader, who did not make it to the Cabinet his time, is J P Nadda, the health minister in the first Modi dispensation. He could be the next BJP president as incumbent Amit Shah has joined the government.

Others who decided not to contest were Suresh Prabhu, who held the civil aviation portfolio, Uma Bharati, the minister of drinking water and sanitation and Birender Singh, who was minister of steel.

Manoj Sinha, the minister of state for railways, Alphons Kannanthanam, the minister of tourism with independent charge, and Hansraj Ahir, the minister of state for home, were among those who tasted defeat in the elections.

Vijay Sampla, who was the minister of state, social justice and empowerment, was dropped. He had been denied a ticket by the BJP after it accused the party of "cow slaughter".

Known for his controversial statements, Anantkumar Hegde, who held the skill development portfolio, has also been dropped.

Arun Jaitley, who was the finance minister, had opted out of being in the government for health reasons.

PM Modi’s 2019 Cabinet: Who’s Back?

Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Nirmala Sitharaman and Prakash Javadekar were among the 36 ministers who were sworn in for a second term, besides 20 MPs who took oath of office as cabinet ministers for the first time.

While 24 cabinet ministers were sworn-in the Modi government, nine took oath as ministers of state (Independent charge) and 24 others as ministers of state.

Ten of the newly-inducted ministers are from the Rajya Sabha and 45 are from the Lok Sabha Home minister in the previous Narendra Modi government, Rajnath Singh was the first to take oath after the prime minister.

Ram Vilas Paswan, DV Sadananda Gowda, Narendra Singh Tomar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Harsh Vardhan, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan and Muqtar Abbas Naqvi were among those who got a second chance.

While the inclusion of Amit Shah, seen as BJP’s key strategist who helped the party to expand its base after taking over the reins of the party in 2014, was much speculated, former Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, considered close to Modi, was a surprise pick.

Hardeep Puri, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, was reinducted into Modi's council of ministers despite losing the Lok Sabha polls.He was given a ticket by the BJP to contest from Amritsar.

Prakash Javadekar who handled four portfolios in the previous regime of the Modi government including Human Resource Development, Environment, Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, was sworn in for a second term.

Mahendra Nath Pandey, who was appointed as the Minister of State for HRD in the Modi government before he was made president of BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit in 2017, also took oath as a cabinet minister.

Similarly, Faggan Singh Kulaste, a six-time MP from Mandla constituency in Madhya Pradesh, who was Minister of State for Health in the previous government during 2016-17, was inducted in the new council of ministers.

PM Modi’s 2019 Cabinet: Who’s New?

Staunch Narendra Modi loyalist Giriraj Singh and former chief ministers of Uttarakhand and Jharkhand Ramesh Chandra Pokhriyal and Arjun Munda respectively were among the BJP leaders elevated to the Cabinet in the new NDA government on Thursday.

Kiren Rijiju, the face of the BJP in the Northeast and a two-time MP from Arunachal West Lok Sabha seat, has also been promoted from minister of state to minister of state with independent charge in the new government.

Giiriraj Singh, who supported Modi since the days he was the chief minister of Gujarat, has courted controversies with his utterances verged on Hindutva hardline as he repeatedly raised the issue of rising Muslim population in the country and underscored that a decline in the proportion of Hindus in a region invariably led to social strife.

At times he also went against the government line of awaiting the Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya saying "Hindus were running out of patience".

Singh won the Begusarai seat in Bihar defeating CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar.

Considered to be close to the BJP top brass, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has got a cabinet rank from his previous MoS with independent charge status.

Shekhawat, who was made the Union minister of state for agriculture in September 2017, defeated the son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot from the Jodhpur Lok Sabha seat.

(With inputs from PTI)