As part of the Union government's continuity effort, four high-profile ministers in prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi's new government, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar retained their old portfolios of home affairs, defence, finance and external affairs, respectively. Ministers heading these key ministries are part of the Cabinet committee on security headed by the prime minister. Mr Shah has also retained the cooperation ministry, while Ms Sitharaman will continue to handle the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA). President Droupadi Murmu directed the allocation of portfolios to 72 members of the Union council of ministers, including the prime minister, as advised by PM Modi.
Among new entrants to the Union Cabinet, Madhya Pradesh's former chief minister (CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the new minister of agriculture and rural development. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda, who returned to Cabinet, has been given health ministry, which he held during Modi 1.0. In 2019, Mr Nadda took charge as working president of BJP and became full-fledged president in 2020.
Senior leader from BJP, Nitin Gadkari, who is credited with boosting the highway network across the country, has retained the ministry of road transport and highways.
Haryana's former CM Manohar Lal Khattar has been allocated ministries of housing and urban affairs and power.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, who handled crucial ministries like the railways and electronics and information technology has retained these portfolios and been given the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB).
Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal will continue to be in charge of the education, commerce, and industry ministries, respectively. Hardeep Singh Puri has retained the ministry of petroleum and natural gas ministry but has shed charge of housing and urban affairs ministry.
In Modi 3.0, the BJP has retained most of the strategic ministries driving the government's signature programmes. However, it has to give up a few important ministries to its crucial allies, especially the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal-United (JD(U)). The TDP and JD (U) got ministries of civil aviation, and panchayati raj, fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, respectively.
BJP leader Kiren Rijiju has been moved from earth sciences to the parliamentary affairs ministry, while Arjun Ram Meghwal will continue as minister of law. Sarbananda Sonowal and Bhupendr Yadav also retained their old portfolio of shipping and environment, respectively.
JD(S)'s HD Kumaraswamy has got heavy industries and steel ministries. Jitan Ram Manjhi from Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAM-S) is the new minister for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), while JD (U)'s Lalan Singh is the new minister for panchayati raj, fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying.
TDP's K Rammohan Naidu has been assigned to the civil aviation ministry. Chirag Paswan from Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has been allocated the ministry of food processing industries.
BJP leader CR Patil has got the ministry of Jal Shakti, while another leader from the party Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, got ministries of culture and tourism, which he held in Modi 2.0.
Virendra Kumar has retained the social justice and empowerment ministry, while Jual Oram is the new minister for tribal affairs.
Pralhad Joshi, who earlier held coal and mines and parliamentary affairs ministry, has been made in charge of ministries of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, and new and renewable energy.
G Kishan Reddy has been handed over the ministry of coal and mines.
Giriraj Singh has been shifted from the rural development and panchayati raj to textiles. Jyotiraditya Scindia, former aviation minister, is now in charge of ministries of communications and development of the northeastern region.
Annapurna Devi is the new minister of women and child development.
Among ministers of state with independent charge, BJP ally and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Jayant Chaudhary has got the charge of ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship Ministry. Shiv Sena leader Prataprao Jadhav will independently handle ministry of ayush.
Here is the list of Union ministers and their portfolios....
CABINET MINISTERS
MINISTERS OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
MINISTERS OF STATE
