New Delhi: Narendra Modi, who swore in as Prime Minister this evening, will head a 45-member Union Council of Ministers including 24 with Cabinet rank, informed sources said on Monday.
The sources said that besides the Cabinet Ministers, there are 10 Ministers of State (MoS) with Independent Charge and 11 MoS.
The list of ministers without portfolios has been sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
BJP President Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, former BJP chiefs Nitin Gadkari and Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj, Ravishankar Prasad and Anant Geete( Shiv Sena) are among the Cabinet Ministers who took oath at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Arun Jaitley may get additional charge of Defence. A report on CNN-IBN said Nitin Gadkari is likely to be the minister for transport (shipping, civil aviation, railways, surface and highways).
Other media reports stated that Nirmala Sitharaman could be Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs or Minister of State in the Law Ministry. Sushma Swaraj could get the External Affairs Ministry, said the NDTV report. Reports also indicate that BJP MP Sumitra Mahajan was pegged to be Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Others who are swearing-in are Sadananda Gowda, Uma Bharti, Najma Heptullah, Gopinath Munde, Kalraj Mishra, Maneka Gandhi, Ananth Kumar and Thawarchand Gehlot.
Former Mahila wing chief Smriti Irani who took on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi has also found a berth besides Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan.
NDA allies including LJP's Ram Vilas Paswan and Shiromani Akali Dal's Harsimrat Badal are also find a cabinet berth.
Others who are a part of Modi's Cabinet are Narendra Singh Tomar, Jual Oram and Radhamohan Singh.
Among those who are Ministers of State with Independent Charge are Rao Inderjit Singh, Gen (retd) V K Singh, Santosh Gangwar, Sripad Naik, Dharmendra Pradhan, Sarvanand Sonwal and Jitendra Singh.
Party's treasurer Piyush Goel, spokespersons Prakash Javadekar and Nirmala Sitharaman are among those as MoS with independent charge.
The MoS are G M Sidheswara, Manoj Sinha, Upendra Kushwaha, P Radhakrishan, Kiran Rijiju, Krishna Pal Gujjar, Sanjay Kumar Balyan, Mansukhbhai Vasava, Rao Saab Danve, Vishnu Dev Sai and Sudarshan Bhagat.
The sources said some senior party leaders including Amit Shah, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Rajiv Pratap Rudy did not make it to the list as they have been asked to undertake party work ahead of the Assembly elections in some crucial states like Maharashtra and Haryana later this year.
With Rajnath Singh taking over as a Minister, the post of party chief might be entrusted to someone else soon, it is learnt.
Modi Cabinet Ministers:
Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Sadanand Gowda, Uma Bharti, Najma Heptullah, Gopinath Munde, Ramvilas Paswan, Kalraj Mishra, Maneka Gandhi, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Anant Geete, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Narendra Singh Tomar, Jual Oram, Radha Mohan Singh, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Smriti Irani, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Narendra Modi (Defence)
The following will take oath as ministers of state.
VK Singh, Rao Inderjeet Singh, Sanotsh Kumar Gangwar, Sripad Naik, Dharmendra Pradhan, Sarbananda Sonowal, Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, GM Siddeshwara, Manoj Sinha, Upendra Kushwaha, Pon Radhakrishnan, Kiren Rijiju, Krishan Pal Gujjar, Sanjiv Baliyan, Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava, Raosaheb Dadarao Patil Danve, Vishnudev Sahai, Sudarshan Bhagat
I am glad & honoured that people from all walks of life will join the swearing in ceremony. I welcome them.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 26, 2014A big thank you to all friends who will be viewing the ceremony on TV and through social media. Your constant support & blessings mean a lot
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 26, 2014
