Modi Cabinet formation: Thakur, Irani and Munda among 37 ministers dropped

As Prime Minister Narender Modi’s new cabinet took oath on Sunday, over half of the existing 71 ministers of the NDA government could not find a place in the new Council of Ministers, including notable names such as Anurag Singh Thakur and Smriti Zubin Irani. At least seven cabinet ministers and 30 Ministers of State could not find a place in the newly-formed Union Council. The Council of Ministers include 30 cabinet ministers, five Ministers of State (Independent Charge), and 36 Ministers of State. The outgoing Union Council of Ministers had 26 cabinet ministers, three Ministers of State (Independent Charge), and 42 Ministers of State. Out of the 26 cabinet ministers, seven have been dropped. These ministers are Arjun Munda (Minister of Tribal Affairs; and Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare); Parshottam Rupala (Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying); Smriti Zubin Irani (Minister of Women and Child Development and Minister of Minority Affairs); Narayan Tatu Rane (Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises); Raj Kumar Singh (Minister of Power and Minister of New and Renewable Energy); Mahendra Nath Pandey (Minister of Heavy Industries) and Anurag Singh Thakur (Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports). Of these seven ministers, Munda, Smriti Irani, Mahendra Nath Pandey, and RK Singh lost Lok Sabha polls, while Rupala, Thakur, and Rane despite winning from their respective seats could not find a ministerial berth in the Modi 3.0. Out of the existing 42 Ministers of State, 30 have been dropped. These include — Kailash Choudhary (MoS in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare); Kapil Moreshwar Patil (MoS in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj); Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan (MoS in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying); Faggansingh Kulaste (MoS in the Ministry of Steel); Ashwini Kumar Choubey (MoS in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution); General (Retd.) and VK Singh (MoS in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways). The others are Danve Raosaheb Dadarao (MoS in the Rail Ministry); Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (MoS in Ministry of Consumer Affairs); Rajeev Chandrasekhar (MoS in Ministry of Skill Development); Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma (MoS in MSME Ministry); Darshana Vikram Jardosh (MoS in Textiles Ministry); V Muraleedharan (MoS in MEA and in Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs) and Meenakashi Lekhi (MoS in MEA). The others dropped are Som Parkash (MoS in the Ministry of Commerce); Rameswar Teli (MoS in the Ministry of Petroleum; and in Ministry of Labour); A Narayanaswamy (MoS in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment); Kaushal Kishore (MoS in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs); Ajay Kumar (MoS in the Ministry of Home Affairs); Devusinh Chauhan(MoS in the Ministry of Communications); Bhagwanth Khuba (MoS in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers); Pratima Bhoumik (MoS in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment); Dr. Subhas Sarkar (MoS in the Ministry of Education); Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad (MoS in Finance Ministry); Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh (MoS in MEA) and Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar (MoS in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare). The rest include Bishweswar Tudu (MoS in the Ministry of Jal Shakti); Dr Munjapara Mahendrabhai (MoS in the Ministry of Women and Child Development); John Barla (MoS in the Ministry of Minority Affairs); Nisith Pramanik (MoS in the Ministry of Home Affairs; and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports); and Ajay Bhatt (Mos in the Ministry of Defence).