New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday indicated continuity and once again assigned the charge of four important ministries in his new government – Home, Defence, Finance and External Affairs – to Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman and S. Jaishankar respectively. The four ministers in charge of these departments are members of the Cabinet Committee on Security Affairs (CCS), which is chaired by the Prime Minister.
Among the new faces included in the Union Cabinet, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has got the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, while BJP President J.P. Nadda has returned to the Health Ministry. He also handled this department in the first term of the Modi government. However, he later left the post and took charge of the ruling BJP first as the working president in 2019 and then as the president in 2020.
Nitin Gadkari, who is credited with boosting the highway network across the country, has retained the charge of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has been allotted the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Energy.
Ashwini Vaishnav, a rising star in the government, was in charge of the important Railways and Electronics and Information Technology ministries last time. This time he has also been given the responsibility of the important Ministry of Information and Broadcasting along with these departments.
Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal will continue to hold the charge of the Ministry of Education and Commerce and Industry respectively. Hardeep Singh Puri has retained the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, but the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has been taken away from him. According to an official statement, President Draupadi Murmu directed the allocation of departments to 72 members of the Union Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, as per the advice of Modi.
The BJP has retained most of the strategic ministries that carry forward the government’s flagship programmes, while leaving some ministries for allies, notably the TDP and the JD(U), which have got ministries like civil aviation, panchayat raj, fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, respectively.
Kiren Rijiju has been given the responsibility of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs instead of Earth Sciences, while Arjun Ram Meghwal will remain the Law Minister and Sarbananda Sonowal has retained the Shipping Department. Bhupendra Yadav will have the responsibility of the Environment Ministry.
Of the five members of BJP’s allies in the Union Cabinet, Janata Dal (Secular)’s HD Kumaraswamy has been given the responsibility of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Steel, while Jitan Ram Manjhi (HAM-Secular) will handle the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, JD(U)’s Lallan Singh will handle the responsibility of Panchayati Raj, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Ministry.
Telugu Desam Party’s K. Rammohan Naidu has been allotted the Civil Aviation Ministry and LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan has been allotted the Food Processing Industries Ministry. BJP leader C.R. Patil has got the Jal Shakti Ministry, while another party leader Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who held this ministry in the previous government, will be the Culture and Tourism Minister.
Amit Shah has also kept the Ministry of Cooperation with himself, while Sitharaman will continue to handle the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Virendra Kumar has retained the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, while Jual Oram is the new Minister of Tribal Affairs. Prahlad Joshi, who was handling the Ministry of Coal and Mines and Parliamentary Affairs in the previous government, has been made in-charge of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and New and Renewable Energy. G. Kishan Reddy has been given the charge of the Ministry of Coal and Mines.
Giriraj Singh has been removed from the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Ministry and sent to the Textile Ministry. Former Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has now been given charge of the Communications and North Eastern Region Development Ministry. Annapurna Devi will be the new Women and Child Development Minister. Among the state ministers with independent charge, BJP ally and RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary has been given the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Shiv Sena leader Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao has been given the Ministry of AYUSH.
Earlier, Modi held the first cabinet meeting after the swearing-in of his government on Sunday and told his cabinet colleagues that most of them will continue to handle their current responsibilities. The allocation of portfolios reflected the prime minister’s confidence in his colleagues, especially those handling the frontline ministries that shape and carry forward the government’s policies and programmes.
Naidu is the youngest in Modi’s cabinet, Jitan Ram Manjhi is the oldest
Thirty-six-year-old Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu is the youngest minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new cabinet while 79-year-old Jitan Ram Manjhi is the oldest minister to take oath. Naidu, MP from Srikakulam of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), took oath as Minister of State in the new Union Council of Ministers. Another young minister is Maharashtra MP Raksha Khadse (37). She won from Maharashtra’s Raver Lok Sabha seat. Manjhi took oath as Union Cabinet Minister in Modi 3.0 government.
He has served as the 23rd Chief Minister of Bihar and is the founding president of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). Earlier, Manjhi served as the Minister of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare in Nitish Kumar’s Council of Ministers in Bihar. In the 2024 general election, he won the Gaya seat. Some other young ministers include Chirag Paswan and Jayant Chaudhary.
Prime Minister Modi took oath along with his 71 ministers on Sunday.
- Amit Shah – Home Minister
- Rajnath Singh – Defense Minister
- Manohar Lal Khattar – Ministry of Energy besides Housing and Urban Development.
- Shivraj Singh Chouhan – Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Rural Development.
- Nirmala Sitharaman – Finance Minister
- S. Jaishankar – Foreign Minister
- Nitin Gadkari – Ministry of Road Transport.
- JP Nadda – Health Minister, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
- Ashwini Vaishnav – Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Railways.
- Piyush Goyal – Minister of Commerce and Industry.
- Dharmendra Pradhan – Ministry of Education.
- TDP leader Ram Mohan Naidu – Civil Aviation Ministry.
- HD Kumaraswamy – Ministry of Heavy Industries and Steel.
- Chirag Paswan – Minister of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Sports and Youth Welfare
- Kiren Rijiju – Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Minority Affairs
- Arjun Ram Meghwal – Law Minister.
- Sarbananda Sonowal – Ministry of Shipping.
- Lallan Singh (Rajiv Ranjan Singh) – Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy.
- Jyotiraditya Scindia – Communications Minister.
- CR Patil – Ministry of Water Power
- Gajendra Shekhawat – Ministry of Culture and Tourism
- Bhupendra Yadav – Ministry of Environment
- Ravneet Singh Bittu – Ministry of Minority Affairs
- Jitan Ram Manjhi – Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
- Mansukh Mandaviya – Sports Minister
- Juen Oram – Tribal Affairs
- Virendra Kumar – Social Justice and Empowerment
- Hardeep Singh Puri – Petroleum and Natural Gas
- Giriraj Singh – Ministry of Textiles
- Prahlad Joshi – Consumer Food and Public Distribution, Renewable Energy
- Annapurna Devi – Women and Child Development
- G Kishan Reddy – Coal and Mines
Minister of State(Independent Charge):-
state Minister:-
1. Jitin Prasad: Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
2. Shripad Yesso Naik: Minister of State in the Ministry of Power; and Minister of State in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
3. Pankaj Choudhary: Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance
4. Krishan Pal: Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation
5. Ramdas Athawale: Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
6. Ram Nath Thakur: Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
7. Nityanand Rai: Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs
8. Anupriya Patel: Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
9. V. Somanna: Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways
10. Dr. Chandrasekhar Pemmasani: Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications
11. Prof. SP Singh Baghel: Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj
12. Sobha Karandlaje: Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Employment
13. Kirti Vardhan Singh: Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs
14. B.L. Verma: Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
15. Shantanu Thakur: Minister of State in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
16. Suresh Gopi: Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism
17. Dr. L. Murugan: Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
18. Ajay Tamta: Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
19. Bandi Sanjay Kumar: Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs
20. Kamlesh Paswan: Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development
21. Bhagirath Choudhary: Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
22. Satish Chandra Dubey: Minister of State in the Ministry of Coal; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Mines
23. Sanjay Seth: Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence
24. Ravneet Singh: Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways
25. Durgadas Uikey: Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs
26. Defence Minister Nikhil Khadse: Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
27. Sukanta Majumdar: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
28. Savitri Thakur: Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development
29. Tokhan Sahu: Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
30. Raj Bhushan Choudhary: Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti
31. Bhupati Raju Srinivasa Varma: Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel
32. Harsh Malhotra: Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
33. Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya: Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
34. Muralidhar Mohol: Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation
35. George Kurien: Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying
36. Pabitra Margherita: Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles