The Modi 2.0 government has sworn in with some surprising names like former foreign secretary S Jaishankar and Pratap Sarangi making it a mix of professional and people from organizations. The total number of ministers in the Union council of ministers including the Prime Minister is 58.

 

Inclusion of Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nisank’, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Giriraj Singh is equally surprising at least in the cabinet but the PM doesn’t do anything without purpose as political analyst say. Now, the portfolio allocation is once again going to surprise people.

 

There are 24 cabinet ministers, nine ministers of state with independent charge and equal number of minister of states. Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan has been lucky as he has not only won his seat with slender margin but got the ministerial berth in the bargain who was dropped last time in the mid-term of the government. Karnataka BJP chief Prahlad Joshi has been rewarded for the phenomenal success of the party in the state.

 

The name of Prahlad Patel has been doing rounds for ministerial berth right from the time of the previous tenure. Despite being the senior most member in the Lok Sabha, Santosh Gangwar has to remain contended with the minister of state portfolio. West Bengal is not properly represented with just two ministers in the council of minister and it seems one more inclusion in the reshuffle.

 

There are 19 first-time ministers in the 58-member council of ministers. First timers included Amit Shah, S Jaishankar, Prahlad Joshi and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to name a few. Jaishankar is one of India’s leading strategic analysts, who was a key member of the Indian team which negotiated the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal. Arjun Munda also took oath as a Union minister for the first time. Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena who beat Congress’s Mumbai chief Milind Deora also got his first ministerial berth in the Cabinet.

 

Two four-time MPs from Karnataka Suresh Angadi and Pralhad Joshi also made it to the council of ministers. Prahalad Joshi could not make to the previous cabinet of Modi as two other Brahmin leaders from Karnataka Ananth Kumar and Anantkumar Hegde made the cut.

 

Rattan Lal Kataria who defeated Kumari Selja was also sworn in as a minister. G Kishan Reddy BJP MP from Secunderabad in Telangana is also a first time minister.

 

Kailash Chowdhary a farmer leader who defeated influential Congress leader Manvendra Singh in Rajasthan’s Barmer and Pratap Chandra Sarangi, BJP MP from Balasore in Odisha were also sworn in as ministers. Deboshree Chaudhary who won from Raiganj Bengal in the BJP’s stunning show in the state was also sworn in as a minister.

 

Anurag Thakur, BJP MP from Hamirpur and son of former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal also made the cut for a ministerial berth for the first time. Nityanand Rai, BJP’s Bihar chief is also a first time minister and so is Ratanlal Kataria, BJP leader from Haryana. BJP’s Kerala unit chief V Muraleedharan also joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new ministry for his first assignment as a central minister.