NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted 21 members into the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday. While four have got the rank of Cabinet Minister, three are Ministers of State (independent charge) and 15 Ministers of State.
BJP supporters claim the PM has gone for merit than political considerations. He has beefed up the talent pool in the government by inducting IITians, Harvard graduates and an Olympic medal winner.
However, the expansion may not go down well with the PM’s slogan of “minimum government, maximum governance”. The strength of his Cabinet has touched 66 as against 73 of the UPA-II.
Shiv Sena’s Anil Shah could not take oath due to a last-minute decision by his party to boycott the function. But Suresh Prabhu, another senior leader of the party and a minister in the previous NDA government, was sworn-in as a Cabinet minister.
BJP sources claimed Prabhu, who enjoys confidence of PM Modi, was made a minister from BJP’s quota and has joined BJP Sunday morning.
Modi tried to balance regional aspirations too. Former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, senior BJP leader J P Nadda and Choudhury Birendra Sing, a prominent Jat leader from Haryana, have also been sworn-in as Cabinet ministers.
Bandaru Dattatreya, first leader from Telangana after it became a separate state, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Mahesh Sharma also took oath as Ministers of State (Independent charge). Mukhtar Abbaz Naqvi, one of the two front row Muslim leaders of BJP, has been inducted into the Council as a Minister of State.
