BILKULONLINE

 New Delhi, June 9: Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath along with 71 Council of Ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday.

This is the third consecutive term of the BJP-led National Democratic alliance (NDA) at the Centre, under the leadership of PM Modi. The list of 71 ministers in the new coalition government comprises of 30 Cabinet Ministers, 5 Ministers of State (MoS) with independent charge, and 36 Ministers of State (MoS).

The portfolios haven’t been announced yet, but the formation and structure of Modi 3.0 shows a pan-India representation and also adequate focus on the alliance partners. A first look at the Union Cabinet shows a conscious effort to cover all corners of the country as the ministers hail from as many as 24 states.

A total of 11 ministers from the NDA alliance partners took oath of office and secrecy on Sunday. At least 43 ministers have served in the Parliament for at least 3 or more terms in their previous stints, bringing a wide range of experience with them. Former Chief Ministers such as Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Manohar Lal Khattar have also joined Team Modi, marking a new role from the state legislature to the Parliament.

At least 34 ministers are said to have prior experience in the state legislatures with 23 of them having served as Ministers of States. The caste equations have also been factored as out of 71 ministers, 27 hail from the Other Backward Class (OBC), 10 from the Scheduled Caste (SC), 5 from the Scheduled Tribe (ST), and 5 from the minority community. Notably, this is a record-setting term for PM Modi as he is the only second Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru to be elected for third term in office in a row.