June 9, 2024 – In a grand ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with 72 ministers, took the oath of office, marking the formation of the Modi Cabinet 3.0. The new council includes 30 Cabinet Ministers, 5 Ministers of State with Independent Charge, and 36 Ministers of State.
Seven women have been inducted into the new Council of Ministers, with two serving as Cabinet Ministers and five as Ministers of State. The inducted women ministers are:
- Nirmala Sitharaman: The two-time Union minister and Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka retains a key position in the Cabinet. Sitharaman, who served as Union Finance Minister in Modi 2.0, is credited with significant economic reforms, including a corporate tax cut, the implementation of GST, and COVID-related economic measures.
- Annpurna Devi: A prominent OBC leader from Jharkhand, Devi was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister. Previously, she served as the Minister of State for Education. Devi secured her second consecutive Lok Sabha win from Koderma, defeating CPI(ML)’s Vinod Kumar Singh by over 3.77 lakh votes.
- Raksha Khadse: Representing Maharashtra’s Raver Lok Sabha constituency, Khadse took the oath as Minister of State. She is a three-time MP and has been an advocate for women empowerment, child education, and farmers’ welfare. She won her seat with a margin of roughly 3 lakh votes.
- Shobha Karandlaje: The BJP MP from Bengaluru North was sworn in as Minister of State. A close confidante of former Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa, Karandlaje has held significant state ministerial roles in Karnataka. She won her Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 2.59 lakh votes.
- Anupriya Patel: The president of Apna Dal (Soneylal) and MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur, Patel was sworn in as Minister of State. She has previously served as Union Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and for Health and Family Welfare. She won her seat with over 4.71 lakh votes.
- Savitri Thakur: A tribal leader from Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar constituency, Thakur was inducted as Minister of State. Known as ‘Didi,’ she defeated Congress’ Radheshyam Muvel by a margin of over 2.18 lakh votes.
- Nimuben Bhambhaniya: The former mayor of Bhavnagar, Bhambhaniya was sworn in as Minister of State. She won her seat from Gujarat by defeating AAP’s Umesh Makwana with a margin of 4.55 lakh votes. Bhambhaniya has served as Bhavnagar’s mayor and vice president of the BJP Mahila Morcha’s state unit.
The previous council, dissolved on June 5, had 10 women ministers. Notably, Smriti Irani, Bharti Pawar, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Darshana Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi, and Pratima Bhoumik were not included in the new Cabinet. Irani and Pawar lost their respective seats in Amethi and Dindori, while the others were not fielded by the BJP in the recent elections.
