As 72 people have been sworn in as ministers today along with Prime Minister Modi, how many more people can get a place in the cabinet. Let’s see what the rules are.
Despite no party getting a majority in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party by winning 240 seats.
They formed the government with the support of other parties in the NDA alliance.
72: PM Modi became the only leader after Jawaharlal Nehru to become Prime Minister for the third consecutive term. A total of 72 people were sworn in as ministers along with him. Excluding the Prime Minister, 30 of them are Cabinet Ministers, 5 are Ministers of State with individual responsibility, and 36 are Ministers of State. Also, party-wise, 61 of them belong to the BJP. The rest belong to the alliance party.
A total of 72 ministers have now been sworn in as ministers against a maximum of 81 members in the Union Cabinet. Why only a maximum of 81 people should be sworn in as central ministers.. Let’s see how many people were ministers in the previous Modi cabinet.
What is the law: The Constitution (91st Amendment) Act, 2003 specifies the maximum number of ministers that the central and state governments in India can have. The Act clearly states that the number of members of the Union Cabinet, including the Prime Minister, should not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha.
Accordingly, there are 543 members in the Lok Sabha, with a maximum of 81 ministers along with the Prime Minister. This law has been brought to prevent giving ministerial positions to more people for political gain. Because of this, sometimes the same ministers have to look after more than one department.
There is a limit on the maximum number of ministers, but there is no limit on the number of departments. New ministries can be created or dissolved based on government policy and need.
Modi Cabinet: After the 2014 elections, when Modi was first sworn in as Prime Minister, he had only 45 ministers including 23 Cabinet Ministers, 10 Ministers of State with Special Charge and 12 Ministers of State. About six months later, on 9 November 2014, 21 new ministers were sworn in, taking the total number of ministers to 66. The cabinet was further expanded in subsequent years.
Modi 2.o: After the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 58 ministers were initially inducted as 24 Cabinet Ministers, 9 Ministers with Special Charge and 25 Ministers of State. However, before the elections there were 29 Cabinet Ministers, 3 Ministers of State with Special Charge and 42 Ministers of State.
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