In a grand ceremony held on the lawns of the Rashtrapati Bhavan today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the oath for his third term in office, along with 72 ministers of the new coalition government. The diverse cabinet includes 30 Cabinet Ministers, five with independent charge, and 36 Ministers of State, whose portfolios will be announced later.
PM Modi, 73, is set to lead a coalition government, known as Modi 3.0, for the first time since assuming office in 2014. This victory marks a significant milestone in Indian politics, as PM Modi becomes only the second Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru to be elected for a third consecutive term.
The oath-taking ceremony, presided over by President Droupadi Murmu, witnessed the induction of several prominent leaders into the cabinet. Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, JP Nadda, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar, and Manohar Lal Khattar were among those who took the oath of office.
Notably, HD Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) and Lalan Singh of the Janata Dal (United) were the first allies of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to be sworn in.
Regional diversity was also evident in the ceremony, with Sarbananda Sonowal and Kiren Rijiju becoming the first leaders from the northeast to take the oath. Virendra Kumar, a prominent Scheduled Castes leader and eight-time MP, was also among those inducted into the cabinet.
In a significant political development, Chirag Paswan, the chief of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), was also inducted into the government, solidifying his position as the political heir of his late father, Ram Vilas Paswan. Key BJP leaders including party chief JP Nadda and multi-term Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were also inducted as Union Ministers for the first time.
The ceremony also saw the presence of dignitaries from neighboring countries and the Indian Ocean Region, including Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, highlighting the regional importance of the event.
List of cabinet ministers in Modi 3.0:
