BANGALORE: Amidst hectic discussions on formation of the new government and indications that Narendra Modi would have “small and compact” Cabinets, the newly appointed Prime Minister begins his first day in office with an announcement of the cabinet portfolios and a series of bilateral meetings with South Asian leaders.
Modi, as the head of Council of Ministers, under his charge has personnel, public grievances and pensions, department of atomic energy, department of space, all important policy issues and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister. So, let us have a look at the names of Modi’s Council of Ministers, as listed by Yahoo.
Rajnath Singh: BJP President Rajnath Singh is the Home Minister. He took oath immediately after Modi. Singh is likely to hand over the party baton to someone competent. Rajnath Singh, a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh entered politics in 1974 and soon became Secretary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Mirzaur. In 1975, he became District President of Jana Sangh and District Coordinator of JP Movement. In 1977, he was elected as an MLA, for the first time, in UP Assembly. He became the BJP National President on December 31, 2005, a post he held till December 19, 2009. In May 2009, he was elected MP from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. In 16th Lok Sabha elections, Singh has been elected from Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency.
Arun Jaitley: Presently, the Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley has turned out to be the most important person in the new government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with three heavy portfolios of finance, defense and corporate affairs. He will be assisted in the Defense Ministry by Gurgaon MP, recently imported by the BJP from the Congress, Rao Inderjit Singh as Minister of State. Singh also has independent charge of Statistic and Planning.
A lawyer by profession, Jaitley started his political career from his college days. He is a member of the national executive of the BJP since 1991. In the Vajpayee-led NDA government, he was the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge). He was elevated as a Cabinet Minister in November 2000 and was simultaneously appointed as the Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs and Shipping, a portfolio vacated by Ram Jethmalani.
Sushma Swaraj: Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj who won Vidisha seat in Madhya Pradesh by a huge margin of over four lakh votes has been made the External Affairs Minister. She is the first womam to get this portfolio. Swaraj will be assisted by former Army Chief General VK Singh as Minister of State. The General, who is now the BJP's Ghaziabad MP, also has independent charge of North East Affairs.
Swaraj, a sitting MP, defeated Congress' Lakshman Singh. This senior leader secured 7,14,248 votes while Lakshman Singh, brother of Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh got 3,03,650 votes. She is one such political veteran who has been elected seven times as a Member of Parliament and three times as a Member of the Legislative Assembly.
Modi, as the head of Council of Ministers, under his charge has personnel, public grievances and pensions, department of atomic energy, department of space, all important policy issues and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister. So, let us have a look at the names of Modi’s Council of Ministers, as listed by Yahoo.Rajnath Singh: BJP President Rajnath Singh is the Home Minister. He took oath immediately after Modi. Singh is likely to hand over the party baton to someone competent. Rajnath Singh, a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh entered politics in 1974 and soon became Secretary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Mirzaur. In 1975, he became District President of Jana Sangh and District Coordinator of JP Movement. In 1977, he was elected as an MLA, for the first time, in UP Assembly. He became the BJP National President on December 31, 2005, a post he held till December 19, 2009. In May 2009, he was elected MP from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. In 16th Lok Sabha elections, Singh has been elected from Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency.
Arun Jaitley: Presently, the Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley has turned out to be the most important person in the new government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with three heavy portfolios of finance, defense and corporate affairs. He will be assisted in the Defense Ministry by Gurgaon MP, recently imported by the BJP from the Congress, Rao Inderjit Singh as Minister of State. Singh also has independent charge of Statistic and Planning.A lawyer by profession, Jaitley started his political career from his college days. He is a member of the national executive of the BJP since 1991. In the Vajpayee-led NDA government, he was the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge). He was elevated as a Cabinet Minister in November 2000 and was simultaneously appointed as the Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs and Shipping, a portfolio vacated by Ram Jethmalani.
Sushma Swaraj: Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj who won Vidisha seat in Madhya Pradesh by a huge margin of over four lakh votes has been made the External Affairs Minister. She is the first womam to get this portfolio. Swaraj will be assisted by former Army Chief General VK Singh as Minister of State. The General, who is now the BJP's Ghaziabad MP, also has independent charge of North East Affairs.
Swaraj, a sitting MP, defeated Congress' Lakshman Singh. This senior leader secured 7,14,248 votes while Lakshman Singh, brother of Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh got 3,03,650 votes. She is one such political veteran who has been elected seven times as a Member of Parliament and three times as a Member of the Legislative Assembly.
Smriti Irani: The actress-turned-politician, Smriti Irani, who took on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in a spirited contest in Amethi in the general election, is Human Resource Development minister. Her induction in the Narendra Modi ministry represents a crowning glory in her political career. Having acquired fame as a TV actress, she continued to come under spotlight after she switched over from TV to politics and fought two tough electoral battles in the last ten years including one against Congress heavyweight Kapil Sibal from Chandni Chowk in Delhi in 2004.
Nitin Gadkari: The former BJP president Nitin Gadkari is all set to head the mega Transport portfolio consisting of road transport, highways and shipping.
Considered as a key member of Narendra Modi's core group, Gadkari, who earned the distinction of being the youngest BJP president, is known as an able administrator with innovative approaches.
The success of the Mumbai-Pune expressessway also brought him fame, with the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asking him to launch the national highway authority. Gadkari was elected to the Lok Sabha from Nagpur, a traditional Congress stronghold, defeating seven-time winner Vilas Mutthemwar by a margin of about three lakh vote.
M Venkaiah Naidu: Former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu was the fourth BJP leader to be sworn in. He is taking charge of Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the new government. Being a shrewd leader, inspiring orator and a committed party worker, Naidu became the BJP president in 2002; and is among the party's prominent faces from southern India. This is his second stint as a Union Minister, after heading the Rural Development Ministry in the year 2000.
Nitin Gadkari: The former BJP president Nitin Gadkari is all set to head the mega Transport portfolio consisting of road transport, highways and shipping.
Considered as a key member of Narendra Modi's core group, Gadkari, who earned the distinction of being the youngest BJP president, is known as an able administrator with innovative approaches.The success of the Mumbai-Pune expressessway also brought him fame, with the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asking him to launch the national highway authority. Gadkari was elected to the Lok Sabha from Nagpur, a traditional Congress stronghold, defeating seven-time winner Vilas Mutthemwar by a margin of about three lakh vote.
M Venkaiah Naidu: Former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu was the fourth BJP leader to be sworn in. He is taking charge of Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the new government. Being a shrewd leader, inspiring orator and a committed party worker, Naidu became the BJP president in 2002; and is among the party's prominent faces from southern India. This is his second stint as a Union Minister, after heading the Rural Development Ministry in the year 2000.
Sadananda Gowda: The former Karnataka chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda and MP from Bangalore North gets the railways portfolio in the Modi’s government. Beginning his political career as a member of the Jan Sangh in late 1970s, Gowda makes his ministerial debut at the Centre.
The ever-smiling 61-year Gowda earned national prominence being the President of the Karnataka unit of BJP when the party won the Assembly elections for the first time in South India in May 2008.
Gowda, an eminent administrator and a key policy-maker, has served in various committees of the Karnataka State Legislature including the Cell for preparing Draft Bill on prohibiting Atrocities on Women, the Committee of Energy, Fuel and Power, and the Committee for Public Undertaking.
After suffering big loss in May 2013 elections, BJP elected Gowda as the opposition leader of legislative council in Karnataka.
Harsh Vardhan: Harsh Vardhan, who defeated journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh of the Aam Aadmi Party and former union minister Kapil Sibal from Chandni Chowk, is the new Health Minister. In the Delhi state cabinet, Vardhan has served in various capacities during BJP's reign (1993–98), including Health Minister, Law Minister and Education Minister. He was the Chief Minister candidate for the BJP in the 2013 Delhi assembly election.
The ever-smiling 61-year Gowda earned national prominence being the President of the Karnataka unit of BJP when the party won the Assembly elections for the first time in South India in May 2008.
Gowda, an eminent administrator and a key policy-maker, has served in various committees of the Karnataka State Legislature including the Cell for preparing Draft Bill on prohibiting Atrocities on Women, the Committee of Energy, Fuel and Power, and the Committee for Public Undertaking.
After suffering big loss in May 2013 elections, BJP elected Gowda as the opposition leader of legislative council in Karnataka.
Harsh Vardhan: Harsh Vardhan, who defeated journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh of the Aam Aadmi Party and former union minister Kapil Sibal from Chandni Chowk, is the new Health Minister. In the Delhi state cabinet, Vardhan has served in various capacities during BJP's reign (1993–98), including Health Minister, Law Minister and Education Minister. He was the Chief Minister candidate for the BJP in the 2013 Delhi assembly election.
Uma Bharti: Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti is Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. A firebrand leader and Hindutva mascot, Uma Bharti has always hogged the limelight in her political career.
This is the second time that the saffron clad leader, often referred to as 'sadhvi', has become a Union minister in an NDA government. Bharti came to prominence during the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi movement. She had served as Minister both in the state of Madhya Pradesh and as Union Minister in the Cabinet.
Ram Vilas Paswan: The Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan is taking charge of consumer affairs, food and public distribution portfolios. A seasoned politician, Paswan is credited with removing the tag of 'political untouchability' from Narendra Modi by being the first to rejoin the NDA that he had quit following the 2002 Gujarat riots. Known in political circles for correctly taking decisions, the 67-year-old Lok Janshakti Party leader will be a prominent Dalit face of the new government.
This is the second time that the saffron clad leader, often referred to as 'sadhvi', has become a Union minister in an NDA government. Bharti came to prominence during the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi movement. She had served as Minister both in the state of Madhya Pradesh and as Union Minister in the Cabinet.Ram Vilas Paswan: The Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan is taking charge of consumer affairs, food and public distribution portfolios. A seasoned politician, Paswan is credited with removing the tag of 'political untouchability' from Narendra Modi by being the first to rejoin the NDA that he had quit following the 2002 Gujarat riots. Known in political circles for correctly taking decisions, the 67-year-old Lok Janshakti Party leader will be a prominent Dalit face of the new government.
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