Three weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers took oath again on June 9, the Cabinet Ministerial Committees have been announced.
While BJP ruled with majority for 2 times, in the 3rd Lok Sabha election, BJP ruled without majority. To reflect this yesterday (Wednesday) there was a list of members in the newly formed Cabinet Committees and Cabinet Committees.
For the first time since 2014, BJP’s allies in the National Democratic Alliance have got the most number of members in the cabinet.
Meanwhile, there is no change in the all-important Cabinet Committee on Defence. . No change has been made in the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister, which includes the Ministers of Defence, Home Affairs, Finance and External Affairs. It is this committee that takes decisions on all matters related to national security, including the country’s defense spending and senior appointments in the defense establishment.
Meanwhile the Cabinet Committee on Economic and Political Affairs and Centre-State Relations and Political Affairs, known as the ‘Super Cabinet’, now has Telugu Desam Party’s K Rammohan Naidu and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi as members. In this
Jitan Ram Manji is the Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Rammohan Naidu is the Minister for Civil Aviation. Similarly, Lalan Singh from Bihar’s Jakiya Janata Dal has been included in the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Similarly, Chirag Paswan, leader of another major Bihar ally Lok Janashakti Party (Ramvilas), has been included in the Cabinet Committee on Investment and Development. Lalan Singh or Rajeev Ranjan Singh is the Minister for Panchayat Raj and Animal Husbandry and Chirag Paswan is the Minister for Food Processing Industries.
BJP-allied Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary has been a special invitee to the Cabinet Committee on Skills, Employment and Livelihoods. Jayant Chaudhary is the Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Let’s look at the details of those in other cabinet committees. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is in all Cabinet Committees except two. Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is the Union Agriculture Minister, is part of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. Considered to be the most important woman minister in the cabinet after Nirmala Sitharaman, Annapoorna Devi is a member of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs. Annapoorna Devi is the Minister for Women and Child Development.
Overall in terms of numbers, Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) are BJP’s most important allies as they have 16 and 12 MPs respectively. They are the reason for being in power among the National Democratic Alliance. India Alliance has won 234 seats while BJP has won only 240 seats. It is noteworthy that the BJP has come to power this time with the strength of the alliance.
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