Modi 3.0 Cabinet: Among allies, TDP gets Aviation, Chirag Food Processing, JDU Fisheries

Notably, in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first term, when TDP was in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, the ministry was with the party’s leader Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

The Nitish Kumar-led JD(U), which has won 12 seats in Bihar to emerge as the second biggest ally of the BJP in the NDA, has been allocated the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The twin ministries are not considered among the top departments within the government. Former JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh will be taking charge in the ministries.

President Droupadi Murmu hosted a banquet at Rashtrapati Bhavan in honour of the leaders of neighbouring countries attending the swearing-in-ceremony of the Prime Minister of India. (Express Photo)

LJP (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan, whose party won five seats in Bihar, has been allocated the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, whose party has just two seats, has been allocated two ministries — Heavy Industries and Steel.

Meanwhile, former Bihar CM and chief of Hindustan Awam Morcha, Jitan Ram Manjhi, the lone winner from his party, has been made the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Among the two allies who have been allocated MoS with Independent Charge are Shiv Sena and RLD. Sena’s Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav is the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Ayush and is the MoS of Health and Family Welfare. RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary will take charge as MoS (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and as MoS for Education.

Four MoS posts have also been given to allies which include one each to the JDU, Republican Party of India (RPI), Apna Dal and the TDP.

Lalan Singh’s colleague in the JDU and former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur’s son Ramnath Thakur has been appointed an MoS in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Guntur MP Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani has been appointed as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications.

RPI’s Ramdas Athawale, who held MoS charge in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the second term of the Modi government, has retained his portfolio.

President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi with foreign delegates at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, Sunday, June 9, 2024. (Express photo by Renuka Puri)

BJP ally in UP, Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel, who held the charge of MoS (Industry and Commerce), has been appointed MoS in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; and the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. Patel held the charge of MoS in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Modi’s first term as well.

In 2019, NDA allies got three Cabinet berths and one MoS berth when the Modi government returned to power. The three Cabinet ministers from allies were Ram Vilas Paswan from LJP, who was the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who was Minister of Food Processing Industries, and Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant, who became the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. RPI’s Ramdas Athawale was the MoS for Social Justice and Empowerment. While the Shiv Sena stepped out of the NDA alliance soon after and joined hands with the Congress and NCP after the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Akali Dal walked out of the NDA in protest against the now-repealed three farm laws.

In 2014, allies got four Cabinet berths and one MoS position. LJP’s Ramvilas Paswan became the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, TDP’s Ashok Gajapathi Raju became Minister of Civil Aviation, Shiv Sena’s Anant Geete became Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises and Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal was once again allocated the Food Processing Industries portfolio. Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party was made MoS Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation.

(With inputs from Anonna Dutt)