New Delhi: Narendra Modi took the oath for a third consecutive term as Prime Minister, along with 72 Ministers, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan last night at 7.15 pm. With this milestone, 73-year-old Narendra Modi equalled the feat of Jawaharlal Nehru, who won three straight terms as India’s first Prime Minister.

While PM Modi has secured another five years in power, this is the first time he will be sharing power after the BJP lost its outright majority in Lok Sabha following a fiercely fought election.

The swearing-in ceremony

took place on the lawns of Rashtrapati Bhavan, with President Droupadi Murmu administering the oath of office to Narendra Modi and his Council of Ministers.

This morning, Prime Minister Modi arrived at the South Block to assume office for his third term. The first meeting of the third Narendra Modi Cabinet is likely to be held today around 5 pm at the Prime Minister’s Lok Kalyan Marg residence. The PM has no bilateral meetings scheduled with foreign leaders for the day.

In keeping with ‘coalition dharma,’ the new Council of Ministers will be 72-strong and include 11 Ministers from NDA partners. The Modi 3.0 team will feature 30 Cabinet Ministers, 5 Ministers of State with Independent Charge and 36 Ministers of State. The portfolios will be announced later.

Modi has assured the people of India that his Government will work with the same commitment to fulfil their aspirations. The new coalition Government, as Modi emphasised, aims to foster unanimity and improve the lives of middle-class citizens.

A broad representation

The Council of Ministers has a broad representation of social groups, including 27 Other Backward Classes (OBC), 10 Scheduled Castes (SC), 5 Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 5 minorities. A record 18 senior Ministers will be heading major ministries. There were also a few notable names missing from the new Cabinet.

New Entrants

BJP Chief J.P. Nadda, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, six-time Sundargarh MP Jual Oram and BJP Gujarat unit Chief C.R. Patil were among the new entrants in PM Modi’s Cabinet. Jitin Prasada, a Cabinet Minister in the Uttar Pradesh Government, was sworn in as a Minister of State along with former Karnataka Minister V. Somanna.

Returning Faces

Returning faces in the Modi 3.0 Cabinet include Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Pralhad Joshi, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Kiren Rijiju, Dharmendra Pradhan, Sarbananda Sonowal, Bhupender Yadav, Giriraj Singh, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and G. Kishan Reddy, among others.

Allies’ Share

Among NDA allies, LJP (Ram Vilas) Chief Chirag Paswan, JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, Hindustan Awam Morcha Founder Jitan Ram Manjhi, JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan aka Lalan Singh and TDP MP Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu were sworn in as Union Ministers of Cabinet rank.

Jitendra Singh, Ramdas Athawale, Nityanand Rai, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Shobha Karandlaje, Shripad Naik, Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar returned as Ministers of State.

Firebrand MP from Telangana Bandi Sanjay took the oath as Union Minister for the first time. Surprisingly, Ravneet Singh Bittu, who lost from Ludhiana, also received a Ministerial berth. Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena secured a Ministerial berth with Buldhana MP Prataprao Jadhav taking the oath as MoS.

In another win for Chandrababu Naidu’s party, the richest MP Dr. Pemmasani Chandrasekhar landed a Ministerial berth. RLD Chief Jayant Chaudhary took the oath as MoS, while Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel also made a comeback.

8,000 guests

As many as 8,000 guests, including leaders from neighbouring countries and the Indian Ocean Region, such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Mauritius and Seychelles, attended the oath-taking ceremony.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was present at Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, calling it his ‘Constitutional duty’ as a Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. However, several Opposition party leaders, including those from the Trinamool Congress and the Left, stated that they would not participate despite receiving invitations.

Bollywood actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Vikrant Massey and Anupam Kher were also in attendance.