As the Modi government gets a makeover, the new Council of Ministers is being shaped in terms of experience and qualification.
In the new Council of Ministers, there are four former Chief Ministers, 18 former state ministers, 39 former MLAs and 23 MPs who have been elected for three or more terms.
This demonstrates the wealth of experience in the new Cabinet as the government has been criticised for lack of bench strength and not having enough heft in administrative experience.
The new Council of Ministers will also be an eclectic mix of distinguished qualifications, including 13 lawyers, six doctors, five engineers, seven former civil servants, and 46 ministers with experience in Central government.
This is also a young-looking Cabinet with an average age of 58, with 14 ministers below the age of 50 years.
In terms of gender, 11 women will be part of the Council of Ministers, including two with Cabinet rank.
There will be five ministers — 1 Muslim, 1 Sikh, 2 Buddhists and 1 Christian. In addition, there is a strong OBC representation with 27 OBC ministers, including five with Cabinet rank, eight ST ministers including three with Cabinet rank, and 12 SC ministers with two with Cabinet rank.
In total, 43 ministers will take oath on Wednesday evening in the first reshuffle of the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
The induction of the new faces was preceded by the resignations of as many as 11 ministers.
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Bihar will get strong representation in the Union Council of Ministers. The list includes former Chief Ministers Narayan Rane, (Maharashtra) and Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam).
Seven-time MP from Madhya Pradesh, Virendra Kumar, and former Congress leader who joined the BJP, also from MP, Jyotiraditya M Scindia are part of the list.
JD-U national President Ramchandra Prasad Singh, will represent Bihar along with Ajay Kumar, the MP from Bhagalpur, while Ashwini Vaishnaw, a Rajya Sabha member from Odisha, is also getting the call.
Leader of the LJP breakaway faction and later Ram Vilas Paswan’s brother, Pashupati Kumar Paras also represents Bihar.
Among the existing ministers, Kiren Rijiju, Raj Kumar Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Mansukh Mandaviya, Parshottam Rupala, G. Kishan Reddy, and Anurag Singh Thakur are expected to be promoted to Cabinet rank.
BJP General Secretary Bhupender Yadav, who is also getting inducted, will represent Rajasthan.
Uttar Pradesh which goes to the polls next year will have new faces in the form of Pankaj Chaudhary, the MP from Maharajganj, alliance partner Apna Dal’s leader Anupriya Patel, Agra MP Satya Pal Singh Baghel, Jalaun MP Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Mohanlalganj MP Kaushal Kishore, and state BJP Vice President, B.L. Verma.
From Karnataka, Rajya Sabha MP, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and BJP Vice President Shobha Karandlaje will be the entrants alongwith Chitradurga MP A. Narayanswamy, and Bidar MP Bhagwanth Khuba.
From Gujarat, Surat MP Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Kheda MP Devusingh Chauhan, and Surendranagar MP Mahendrabhai Munjapara are getting inducted.
Among the women MPs, are New Delhi MP, Meenakashi Lekhi and Koderma MP Annapurna Devi.
Bankura MP and doctor Subhas Sarkar, and Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, a Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra and doctor, will take the oath.
Other inductees are Rajkumar Ranjan Singh from Manipur, Dindori (Maharashtra) MP Bharati Pravin Pawar, Mayurbhnaj MP Bishweswar Tudu, West Bengal MP, John Barla, Tamil Nadu BJP President L. Murugan and Cooch Behar MP Nisith Pramanik.
Uttarakhand will be represented by Ajay Bhatt.
