PM Modi and his Council of Ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan.
After PM Modi, several others, including BJP president Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and former foreign secretary S Jaishankar, took oath as ministers.
“Honoured to serve India!” PM Modi tweeted immediately after taking the oath for the second consecutive term.
Apart from Shah, Singh, Gadkari, the other top leaders who were sworn-in as cabinet ministers included DV Sadananda Gowda, Nirmala Sitharaman and Ram Vilas Paswan.
While the inclusion of Shah, seen as BJP’s key strategist who helped the party to expand its base after taking over the reins of the party in 2014, was much speculated, Jaishankar, considered close to Modi, was a surprise pick.
Some of the key ministers in the previous Modi government, including Sushma Swaraj, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Maneka Gandhi were not part of the new council of ministers.
Former finance minister Arun Jaitley had written to PM Modi on Wednesday and said that he didn’t want to be a part of the new government due to health reasons.
Top opposition leaders including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, corporate honchos, film stars, chief ministers and a galaxy of leaders from BIMSTEC countries were part of the nearly 8,000 guests at the ceremony.
Others who took oath of office as cabinet ministers are – Narendra Singh Tomar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Thanwar Chand Gehlot, Ramesh Pokhriyal, Arjun Munda, Smriti Irani, Harsh Vardhan, Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Prahlad Joshi, Mahendra nath pandey, Arvind Sawant, Giriraj Singh and Gajendra Shekhawat.
Those who took oath as minister of state with independent charge are – Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Rao Inderjit Singh, Shripad Yesso Naik, Jitendra Singh Kiren Rijiju, Prahalad Singh Patel, Raj Kumar Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri Mansukh L Mandaviya.
Those who were sworn-in as minister of state are – Faggan Singh Kulaste, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Arjun Ram Meghwal, V K Singh, Krishan Pal, Danve Raosaheb Dadarao, G Kishan Reddy, Parshottam Rupala, Ramdas Athawale, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Babul Supriyo, Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao, Anurag Singh Thakur, Angadi Suresh Channabasappa, Nityanand Rai, Rattan Lal Kataria, V Muraleedharan, Renuka Singh Saruta, Som Parkash, Rameswar Teli, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Kailash Choudhary, Debasree Chaudhuri.
There are 24 cabinet ministers and as many MoS’ while nine others were given MoS with independent charge rank.
PM Modi can have as many as 80 ministers in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
As per the Constitution, the total number of Union ministers, including the Prime Minister shall not exceed 15 per cent of the number of members in the LS.
Here’s the list of Union Council Of Ministers
Cabinet Ministers
1. Shri Narendra Modi
2. Shri Raj Nath Singh
3. Shri Amit Shah
4. Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari
5. Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda
6. Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
7. Shri Ramvilas Paswan
8. Shri Narendra Singh Tomar
9. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad
10. Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal
11. Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot
12. Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
13. Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’
14. Shri Arjun Munda
15. Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani
16. Dr. Harsh Vardhan
17. Shri Prakash Javadekar
18. Shri Piyush Goyal
19. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan
20. Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
21. Shri Pralhad Joshi
22. Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey
23. Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant
24. Shri Giriraj Singh
25. Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
Ministers of State (Independent Charge)
1. Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar
2. Rao Inderjit Singh
3. Shri Shripad Yesso Naik
4. Dr. Jitendra Singh
5. Shri Kiren Rijiju
6. Shri Prahalad Singh Patel
7. Shri Raj Kumar Singh
8. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri
9. Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya
Ministers of State
1. Shri Faggansingh Kulaste
2. Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey
3. Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal
4. General (Retd.) V. K. Singh
5. Shri Krishan Pal
6. Shri Danve Raosaheb Dadarao
7. Shri G. Kishan Reddy
8. Shri Parshottam Rupala
9. Shri Ramdas Athawale
10. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti
11. Shri Babul Supriyo
12. Shri Sanjeev Kumar Balyan
13. Shri Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao
14. Shri Anurag Singh Thakur
15. Shri Angadi Suresh Channabasappa
16. Shri Nityanand Rai
17. Shri. Rattan Lal Kataria
18. Shri V. Muraleedharan
19. Smt. Renuka Singh Saruta
20. Shri Som Parkash
21. Shri Rameswar Teli
22. Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi
23. Shri Kailash Choudhary
24. Smt. Debasree Chaudhuri
Prasanta Patnaik