India PM Modi makes major cabinet changes for second term
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India´s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday named his trusted aide Amit Shah to the key home affairs ministry as part of a major cabinet shakeup for his second term in office.
Nirmala Sitharaman moved from defence to become finance minister in a second shock, while career diplomat S. Jaishankar became foreign minister.
Hardline Hindu nationalist Shah was the president of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who masterminded Modi´s second straight landslide victory in the country´s national election.
Shah, 54, will now pursue Modi´s nationalist agenda in internal security, immigration and other key national issues.
A controversial figure, Shah was accused of ordering police to carry out three extrajudicial killings in his home state of Gujarat in 2005. He was banished from the western state for two years before being cleared in 2014 for lack of evidence.
Recently he hit the headlines after comparing illegal immigrants to "termites" that must be thrown out of the country.
But he has been a close confidante of Modi for nearly two decades and some analysts say Shah is now in place to take over the party if Modi stood down.
"Congratulations to @AmitShah ji who transformed BJP into one of the largest political organisations in the world & will now play a bigger role in building #NewIndia," tweeted Shah´s cabinet colleague Smriti Irani.
Irani, who defeated opposition Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in his family bastion of Amethi in the election, was handed the ministry of women and child development.
Facing major challenges with the economy, job creation and a farm debt crisis, Modi replaced around three dozen ministers and deputies from the last administration, bringing in many new lawmakers.
- Major rejig -
Sitharaman, 59, became India´s first full-time woman finance minister after a similar landmark stint as defence minister. Former premier Indira Gandhi had briefly held the defence and finance portfolios in the 1970s.
As finance minister Sitharaman will be expected to steer India´s course through reforms and arrest an economic slowdown in Asia´s third-largest economy.
Sithamaramn could get an early idea of economic difficulties ahead when economic growth figures for January-March are released later Friday.
The previous finance minister, Arun Jaitley, asked not to be considered for a government post because of ill health.
The induction of Jaishankar, a China expert and a former ambassador to Washington, as the new foreign minister was seen as a sign that Modi will put more emphasis on diplomacy in the sensitive area around India in his second term.
Jaishankar, who was the top foreign ministry official until his retirement last year, was an influential advisor to Modi on diplomacy during his first five years in power.
Jaishankar took the mantle from Sushma Swaraj, a party veteran who underwent a kidney transplant in 2016 and has been beset by poor health.
Modi also set up a new ministry of water power in keeping with his promise to make safe drinking water a priority for his government.
Modi, 24 cabinet rank ministers and more than 30 deputy ministers were sworn in at the presidential palace on Thursday.
Presidents and prime ministers from neighbouring Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives were present. Modi:
Prime Minister and also in-charge of: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space; and all l other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.
Cabinet Ministers
1. Rajnath Singh: Minister of Defence.
2. Amit Shah: Minister of Home Affairs.
3. Nitin Jairam Gadkari: Minister of Road Transport and Highways; and Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
4. D V Sadananda Gowda: Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
5. Nirmala Sitharaman: Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs.
6. Ramvilas Paswan: Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
7. Narendra Singh Tomar: Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Minister of Rural Development; and Minister of Panchayati Raj.
8. Ravi Shankar Prasad: Minister of Law and Justice; Minister of Communications; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technolog 9. Harsimrat Kaur Badal: Minister of Food Processing Industries.
10. Thaawar Chand Gehlot: Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
11. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar: Minister of External Affairs.
12. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’: Minister of Human Resource Development.
13. Arjun Munda: Minister of Tribal Affairs.
14. Smriti Zubin Irani: Minister of Women and Child Development; and Minister of Textiles.
15. Harsh Vardhan: Minister of Health and Family Welfare; Minister of Science and Technology; and Minister of Earth Sciences.
16. Prakash Javadekar: Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of Information and Broadcasting.
17. Piyush Goyal: Minister of Railways; and Minister of Commerce and Industry.
18. Dharmendra Pradhan: Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of Steel.
19. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi: Minister of Minority Affairs.
20. Pralhad Joshi: Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of Coal; and Minister of Mines.
21. Mahendra Nath Pandey: Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
22. Arvind Ganpat Sawant: Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise.
23. Giriraj Singh: Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.
24. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat: Minister of Jal Shakti.
Ministers of State (Independent Charge)
1. Santosh Kumar Gangwar: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
2. Rao Inderjit Singh: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; and Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning.
3. Shripad Yesso Naik: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH); and Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence.
4. Jitendra Singh: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region; Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and Minister of State in the Department of Space.
5. Kiren Rijiju: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
6. Prahalad Singh Patel: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Culture; and Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Tourism.
7. Raj Kumar Singh: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Power; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
8. Hardeep Singh Puri: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
9. Mansukh L. Mandaviya: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Shipping; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Ministers of State
1. Faggan Singh Kulaste: Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel.
2. Ashwini Kumar Choubey: Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
3. Arjun Ram Meghwal: Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
4. General (Retd) V K Singh: Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
5. Krishan Pal: Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. 6. Danve Raosaheb Dadarao: Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. 7. G Kishan Reddy: Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
8. Purshottam Rupala: Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
9. Ramdas Athawale: Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
10. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti: Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development.
11. Babul Supriyo: Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
12. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan: Minister of State in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.
13. Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao: Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development; Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
14. Anurag Singh Thakur: Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
15. Angadi Suresh Channabasappa: Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways.
16. Nityanand Rai: Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
17. Rattan Lal Kataria: Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
18. V Muraleedharan: Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. 1
9. Renuka Singh Saruta: Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
20. Som Parkash: Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 21. Rameswar Teli: Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
22. Pratap Chandra Sarangi: Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.
23. Kailash Choudhary: Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
24. Debasree Chaudhuri: Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
'Chanakya' Amit Shah in a new role
After a most successful stint as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President, Amit Shah, called the "Chanakya" of modern day Indian politics, on Thursday joined the cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Shah is most likely to be given the Finance portfolio, which was earlier with Arun Jaitley, who on Wednesday urged Modi to keep him out of the ministry on health grounds.
Im
After Modi, Shah was the man who built the party's campaign systematically around the nationalism plank and the Prime Minister's popularity.
Shah, who was in election mode since becoming the party President in 2014, has been rewarded by Modi after the BJP registered a spectacular win in the Lok Sabha elections bagging 303 seats on its own.
Though Shah entered national politics in 2013, his organisational training and extensive travel across India helped him learn the finer points of cow belt politics.
In no time in Uttar Pradesh, Shah transformed the profile of the BJP, which for a long time was seen as a party of forward castes in the state.
Both in the 2014 Lok Sabha and 2017 Assembly elections, Shah first stitched together a strong intra-party caste alliance within BJP's broad political framework in the state.
He also strengthened the so-called rainbow coalition by striking a pre-poll alliance with smaller regional outfits.
As the result, the BJP won 71 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 and the party swept a two-third majority in 2017 Assembly polls.
He also led the BJP to victory in Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and other states.
Formerly an MLA from Naranpura in his home state Gujarat, Shah had been elected four times from Sarkhej.
Shah became a loyalist of Modi as both were associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since their early age.
During his tenure as Minister in Gujarat, Shah held several portfolios including that of transport, police, housing, border security, civil defense, gram rakshak dal, Home Guards, prison, prohibition, excise, law and justice, parliamentary affairs and the coveted Home Ministry.
A science graduate, he was active in politics since his college days when he was with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
Born on October 22, 1964 into a philanthropist family, he joined the RSS as a "Tarun Syawamsevak".
In 1982, as a student of bio-chemistry, he became the Secretary of RSS student wing ABVP in Ahmedabad. He then became the Secretary of BJP Ahmedabad city unit. There was no looking back since then.
He went on to hold many crucial posts to rise up in the ranks of the BJP in Gujarat. He became the national Treasurer of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in 1997 and later the Vice President of the Gujarat BJP.
Shah is also credited with turnaround of the co-operative sector in Gujarat. In 2000, when the Ahmedabad District Co-Operative bank was in totters and declared a weak bank due to lack of leadership, Shah was brought in as the Chairman of the Bank.
Only a year after he took over, the Bank cleared its debts and fell in line of other profit-making banks, with declaration of 10 per cent dividend. Today, Ahmedabad District Co-Operative Bank Ltd is a leading bank among the 367 co-operative banks in the country.
S. Jaishankar: Diplomat-turned-administrator
Former Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, who played a key role in shaping the foreign policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modis first term, induction in the Council of Ministers marks a recognition of the exceptional work of what he did in the Foreign Ministry.
Known for his acumen, sharpness and extraordinary efficiency, the 64-year-old Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer on Thursday took oath as a Cabinet Minister though he is not a member of either House of Parliament.
The 1977 batch officer has served in various capacities in the External Affairs Ministry and as India's envoy in key countries like the US and China.
He was the Foreign Secretary from January 2015 to January 2018 and played a key role in shaping Modi's foreign policy during his first term, which saw a significant growth and expansion of India's ties with key countries, particularly the US and the Arab nations.
Prior to that, during his tenure as India's Ambassador to the US from September 2013 till taking over as the Foreign Secretary, he played a major role in bringing the US Administration and the Modi government closer.
He also planned and executed a highly successful maiden visit of Prime Minister Modi to the US in September 2014 and his landmark address to the Indian diaspora at the Madison Square.
A major highlight of his diplomatic career was his tenure as Joint Secretary in-charge of Americas Division from 2004 to 2007 when he was involved in negotiating the historic Civil Nuclear Agreement.
He also led the Indian team of negotiators for the subsequent 123 Agreement with the US, which was linked to the Civil Nuclear deal and concluded in 2009.
Jaishankar, who was honoured with India's fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri in January, also played a key role in improving the defence cooperation between India and the US.
Jaishankar's tenure as India's Ambassador to China from 2009 to 2013, which was the longest by any IFS officer, coincided with several major developments in bilateral relations.
It was his briefing to the Cabinet Committee on Security in 2010 regarding China's refusal to issue a visa to the Northern Army Commander which led to suspension of Indian defence co-operation with China and military exercises, before the matter was resolved in April 2011.
Also in 2010, Jaishankar negotiated an end to the Chinese policy of issuing stapled visas to Indians from Jammu and Kashmir.
Born on January 15, 1955, Jaishankar, son of well known strategic expert K. Subrahmaniam, joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1977.
His first posting abroad were as Third and Second Secretary (Political) in Moscow from 1979 to 1981.
From 1981 to 1985, he served as under-secretary (Americas) and policy planning in the Ministry of External Affairs.
He then spent three years from 1985 to 1988 as First Secretary, handling political affairs at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC, followed by two years as First Secretary and political advisor to the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka.
In 1990, Jaishankar became Commercial Counsellor in Budapest. After three years, he returned to India where he served first as director of the East Europe division of the External Affairs Ministry and then as Press Secretary to the President of India.
Jaishankar went abroad again - to Tokyo in 1996 as deputy chief of mission. In 2000, he was appointed the Ambassador to Czech Republic and was there till 2004.
Jaishankar returned to India where he led the Americas Division in the MEA.
After heading the division for three years, he was posted High Commissioner to Singapore in 2007 for two years.
Harsimrat Kaur: Badal 'bahu' back in Modi cabinet
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who held the portfolio of Food Processing Industry in the previous Modi-led central government, got a Union cabinet berth for a second term on Thursday.
Wife of Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal and daughter-in-law of five-time Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, she retained the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat for a third consecutive term.
The husband-wife duo has won the parliamentary polls. The man known for micro poll management of his 98-year-old party, Sukhbir Badal won from Ferozepur by a record margin of 1,97,008 votes.
In 2009, she defeated Congress leader Raninder Singh, son of present Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, by over one lakh votes.
In 2014, Harsimrat Kaur defeated her estranged brother-in-law Manpreet Singh Badal, now the Punjab Finance Minister.
This time, Harsimrat, who will turn 53 on July 25, managed to defeat Congress candidate and legislator Amrinder Singh Raja Warring by a thin margin of 21,772 votes in a closely contested battle.
Harsimrat holds a degree in textile design and is a mother of three -- two daughters and a son.
Her political career was prefaced with the launch of Nanhi Chhaan, a non-profit organisation set up with the objective of addressing adverse gender ratio and environmental degradation.
Her husband Sukhbir Badal refused to join the Modi cabinet as being the party chief he believes that his focus should now be on rebuilding the Akali Dal that has lost ground in the state, her aide told IANS.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal remained the Minister of State for Industry during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998-99.
Prakash Javadekar in Modi Ministry again
Born in a Brahmin family on January 30, 1951, Prakash K. Javadekar hails from Maharashtra's cultural, academic and IT capital - Pune. A Bachelor of Commerce graduate from University of Pune, the 68-year-old was active in politics from his student days.
He was active during the Emergency and was arrested and jailed for nearly 16 months for leading several agitations and protests in those days.
After playing different roles in the party's youth wing - Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, he later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), serving in various positions including state party Secretary, was elected twice to the Maharashtra Legislative Council, and later to the Rajya Sabha.
During the first term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Javadekar served first as a junior minister handling several portfolios - Parliamentary Affairs, and later Information and Broadcasting, and also Environment, Forest and Climate Change (both ministries as independent charge).
In the 2016 cabinet reshuffle, he earned the trust of Modi and was allotted the critical Human Resource and Development Ministry and has contributed hugely to the development, improvement and streamlining of various educational systems in the country.
At the party level, he is the official BJP national spokesperson, a post which he earlier held even in Maharashtra.
Piyush Goyal: Investment banker-turned-politician
Mumbai-born Rajya Sabha Member Piyush Goyal, 55, hails from a well-known political family. His father was Late Vedprakash Goyal who was a Union minister in former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's cabinet and longtime Bharatiya Janata Party Treasurer. His mother Chandrakanta Goyal was a three-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Mumbai.
An alumnus of the Don Bosco School, Matunga, Goyal completed his Chartered Accountant standing second in the country and law degree from the University of Mumbai.
He started his professional career as an investment banker and served as a government nominated Director on boards of State Bank of India and Bank Of Baroda.
In the first government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed in 2014, Goyal has handled important ministries -- first as a junior independent Minister in key economic drivers like Coal, Power and New and Renewable Energies and later as Cabinet Minister for Railways and briefly for Finance and Corporate Affair
Twitter Ads info and privacyGoyal, considered among the trusted aides of Modi, on Thursday took the oath as a Union Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new ministry. Given his expertise in financial matters, Goyal is likely to be awarded a portfolio matching his interests.
Dr Harsh Vardhan: Two-time MP from crucial Chandni Chowk LS seat
An ENT specialist by profession, Dr Harsh Vardhan has defeated a union minister and an MP to get a second term from Delhi's Chandni Chowk parliamentary seat.
In the recently concluded general elections, Vardhan defeated Congress candidate Jai Prakash Agarwal by a margin of 2,28,145 votes. While Vardhan received 52.94 votes, runner-up Agarwal polled 29.67 votes.
In 2014, he won the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat defeating Congress' Kapil Sibal, who was then the Union Minister of Law and Justice.
He has served as the incumbent minister for Science and Technology, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Ministry of Earth Sciences.
In 1992, he was elected as a member of the Delhi Assembly from Krishna Nagar. He was appointed as the State Minister of Health and Minister of Law for Delhi. He later became the state Minister of Education in 1996. Vardhan has been re-elected from the same constituency in the 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013 Assembly elections.
During the 2013 Assembly elections, Vardhan, due to his clean image, was propelled as BJP's chief ministerial candidate to take on Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi. The BJP won 32 seats, but the AAP and Congress formed a coalition government.
Sadananda Gowda: BJP veteran from Karnataka
Karnataka's Sadananda Gowda on Thursday took oath as a Union Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new ministry.
Gowda got elected for the second time from the prestigious Bangalore North seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He became the Union Minister for the first time in May 2014 in the NDA-1 government.
Though Gowda was first appointed as the Minister for Railways in May 2014, he was shifted within a few months to the Law and Justice Ministry in November 2014 and later to Statistics and Programme Implementation in July 2016 during the cabinet reshuffles.
After the sudden death of Union Minister H.N. Ananth Kumar on November 12, 2018, Gowda was given the Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry as an additional charge which he held till the government's five-year term ended this month.
Born on March 18, 1953, Kumar was six times elected as a member of the Lok Sabha from the high-profile Bangalore South seat.
After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost power in the state in 2013 Assembly elections, Gowda was the party's opposition leader in the state legislative council from May 2013 to May 2014.
Gowda was BJP's second Chief Minister in Karnataka from August 1, 2011 to July 2012. The party's first Chief Minister of the state was B.S. Yeddyurappa who resigned on July 31, 2011.
Before returning to state politics, Gowda was the Lok Sabha member from Udupi-Chikmagalur from May 2009 to 2011 and from Mangalore (Dakshina Kannada) from 2004 to 2009.
He was a member of the state Legislative Assembly and opposition leader for two terms from his home turf Puttur in the coastal district from 1994 to 2004.
A Bachelor of Science and LLB degree holder, Gowda entered into student politics during his college days when pursuing law course in the mid-1970s and became the district General Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Jan Sangh and later the BJP.
Gowda was also the state unit party President from 2006 to 2011.
Nitin Gadkari: The man who paved BJP's road to success
A self-made politician-cum-businessman, Nitin J. Gadkari, 62, hails from Nagpur in eastern Maharashtra and started his political career with the ABVP and BJYM wings of the RSS and BJP respectively.
An endearing and mild-mannered person adept at winning friends and influencing people, Gadkari, who is a Brahmin by birth, joined the BJP and later became a minister in Maharashtra's first opposition saffron-combine Shiv Sena-BJP government headed by Manohar Joshi (1995-1999).
Enjoying excellent personal rapport with leaders of all parties, and with his penchant for improving the basic transport infrastructure in the state, he quickly gained prominence and was the moving spirit behind the hundreds of flyovers, roads, state and national highways, including the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
He occupied several positions in Maharashtra, including state BJP president and Leader of the Opposition, but his big moment of responsibility came in 2009, when he was elected the BJP President, a post which he held till 2013.
The mandate was to revamp and rebuild the party, which had faced a rout in two successive Lok Sabha elections (2004-2009), besides in several other states that left the cadres demoralised. And Gadkari he lived upto the challenge.
In the first term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gadkari handled crucial and high-visibility infrastructure-related portfolios like Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, etc and made his indelible mark there.
Given his all-round experience and no-nonsense approach to work, Gadkari may be allotted key portfolios in the second Modi government.
Ravi Shankar Prasad: BJP's articulate spokesman returns to Modi government
An articulate and sophisticated spokesman for the BJP, Ravi Shankar Prasad was a key aide to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy L.K. Advani and later a confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who retained him in his cabinet after returning to power in the 2019 polls.
The Supreme Court lawyer-turned-politician first shot to fame in the mid-1990s when he pleaded cases against then Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad in the fodder scam. It was Ravi Shankar Prasad and two others who filed a PIL demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation into the scam.
Prasad, 65, termed himself "Patna ka ladka" as he contested Lok Sabha polls - for the first time - from Patna Sahib seat after four terms in the Rajya Sabha. He won with a big margin, defeating actor-turned-politician and sitting MP Shatrughan Sinha, who had switched over to the Congress.
Born and brought up in Patna in an educated Kayasth family, he was active in student politics since his days in Patna University. Prasad always had a strong leaning towards right-wing politics since his father Thakur Prasad was a Jan Sangh leader, who played an important role in establishing it in the state. As an ABVP leader, he joined the anti-Emergency agitation on the call by veteran leader Jai Prakash Narayan.
Unlike other RSS leaders, Prasad was fluent in English and it was this that helped to draw Vajpayee and Advani's attention to him as the BJP gained national prominence in the 1990s. Made a member of BJP National Executive, the party's top policymaking body, in 1995, he was inducted into the Vajpayee government in 2001.
Made party spokesperson in 2006, he was, for over two decades, the face of the BJP in TV debates. He did not hang up his legal robes, for he appeared as the counsel for "Ram Lalla" (deity) in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit case before the Allahabad High Court.
Made a minister in the Modi government when it came to power in 2014, he held various key portfolios including Communications, Information Technology, and Law and Justice.
Dharmendra Pradhan: From ABVP activist to Union Minister
Known for his organisational skills, Dharmendra Pradhan is all set to be a cabinet minister again during the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
Pradhan, who held important portfolios like Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development in the previous NDA government, was the prominent face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in just concluded Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha.
Even though he lost one Assembly election from the Pallahara constituency in 2009, Pradhan's political journey has witnessed a rise and rise. Pradhan, who has been elected to the upper house of the Parliament this time from Madhya Pradesh, is a three-time MP and one-time MLA.
Backed by Pradhan's organisational skills, the saffron party got eight out of the total 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha while its vote share in the twin polls increased significantly.
Son of former Union Minister Debendra Pradhan, Dharmendra was born on June 26, 1969, in Talcher. He belongs to the Other Backward Caste (OBC) category. He is married to Mridula Pradhan and has two children Nishant and Naimisha.
He started his political carrier as an Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activist in 1983 while pursuing higher secondary education in Talcher College. He became the president of student union in Talcher in 1985. Later, he became the national secretary of ABVP.
He did his M.A. in Anthropology from Utkal University in Odisha.
Pradhan became an MLA from Pallahara constituency in 2000 when the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) came to power in Odisha in alliance with the BJP. Pradhan was conferred the 'Best Legislator Award', the Utkalmani Gopabandhu Pratibha Samman in 2002-03 and the Odisha Citizens' Award in 2013.
He represented the Deogarh Lok Sabha constituency of Odisha in the 2004 elections.
Having proved his organisational skills, Pradhan became the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha National President from 2004 to 2006.
In addition to being a BJP general secretary, he has worked as party's election in-charge for Bihar as also an in-charge of party affairs in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Odisha.
A close confidant of BJP President Amit Shah, Pradhan was instrumental in ensuring the BJP's victory in Bihar in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
In 2014, when the NDA came to power led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pradhan became the Petroleum Minister with independent charge. Later, he was promoted to cabinet rank and given the additional portfolio of Skill Development in 2017.
Pradhan is the first Odia to have become a Rajya Sabha MP from other state. He first got the Rajya Sabha representation from Bihar in 2012, and then from Madhya Pradesh in 2018.
As the Union Petroleum Minister, Pradhan has been the architect of several progressive reforms and initiatives being implemented in the sector. Consumer initiatives like PAHAL and the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana have earned praise across the country.
Smriti Irani: Giant killer of LS battle again in Modi cabinet
Smriti Irani is the giant killer of this Lok Sabha election who vanquished Congress President Rahul Gandhi. An articulate face of the BJP and a go-getter, she has emerged as a trouble shooter for the ruling party.
An actor-turned-politician, Irani has been one of the more visible faces of the Modi government and has often been called upon to articulate the Bharatiya Janata Party's point of view.
She managed the Amethi feat by remaining in touch with the electorate there, despite losing the election five years ago, and worked to bring development projects to the constituency when Narendra Modi was the Prime Minister.
Irani's induction in the union cabinet in 2014 and the Human Resource Development portfolio she bagged created a buzz. She later moved to the Textiles Ministry. In between, she was also given the Information and Broadcasting portfolio.
The Congress attack on her over her educational qualifications did not impact her electoral fortunes.
Born on March 23, 1976, Irani is a former model who became a household name after her role as Tulsi Virani in the iconic TV show "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi".
When she moved to Mumbai, she briefly worked at a McDonald's outlet to support herself while auditioning for work in showbiz.
She first became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 2011 and has also headed the BJP Mahila Morcha.
Nirmala Sitharaman: The first full time woman defence minister, retained
Nirmala Sitharaman was the first woman to be appointed full-time Defence Minister of India in September 2017 -- and since then she has been assiduously trying to adopt a holistic approach in addressing the country's security challenges.
60-year-old Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha member, is the second woman to take charge of the crucial ministry after Indira Gandhi who as the Prime Minister also held the portfolio in the seventies.
One of BJP's chief spokespersons before its ascent to power, Sitharaman is an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University and London School of Economics.
As the Defence Minister, Sitharaman attempted to strengthen the Army, Navy and the Air Force and was credited for expediting the decision making process relating to defence procurement. She constituted a Defence Planning Committee to formulate an "action plan" to effectively deal with various security challenges facing the nation.
However, her biggest moment came when India carried out air strikes on a terrorist training camp in Pakistan's Balakot, seen as major policy shift in the country's efforts to deal with cross border terrorism.
She took on the opposition head on with her fiery defence of the Rafale fighter jet deal in Parliament.
She has also focused on boosting domestic defence production besides taking steps to implement the ambitious "strategic partnership" model with several countries like the United States and Russia.
Under the new model, select Indian private firms will be roped in to build military platforms like submarines and fighter jets in India in partnership with foreign defence majors.
Sitharaman was born on August 18, 1959 in the temple town of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She did her schooling and her graduation in Economics, from Seethalakshmi Ramaswamy College in Tiruchirapalli.
She went on to do her Masters in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Sitharaman served as an assistant to Economist in the Agricultural Engineers Association, UK in London. She subsequently worked as Senior Manager (Research and Analysis) with Price Waterhouse, London. During this time she also briefly worked with BBC World Service. On her return to India, she served as Deputy Director of the Centre for Public Policy Studies at Hyderabad.
Sitharaman joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2008, and was made a member of the National Executive. She was nominated as party spokesperson in March 2010 and has been a full time party worker since then. She was inducted in the Union Cabinet on May 26, 2014 as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry.
Ram Vilas Paswan: Master political craftsman who has worked under 6 PMs
A politician with an uncanny knack for sensing which way the wind is blowing, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan has a rare distinction of serving as a minister in the cabinets of six prime ministers.
The septuagenarian had started off as a member of the Bihar legislative assembly in the 1960s and shot to fame in the 1977 post-Emergency Lok Sabha polls when he won Hajipur seat by over four lakh votes, then a record margin.
Another emphatic victory in 1989 earned him his first stint in the cabinet of V P Singh, who appointed him as labour minister.
Less than a decade later, he was back as railway minister in successive governments headed by H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujaral which together lasted for a couple of years.
The Janata Dal faction, with which he was associated in the 1990s, sided with the BJP-led NDA and Paswan was made the minister for communications, and later coal in the government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Later, he floated his own party with a view to exploring the possibilities as the foremost Dalit leader in Bihar after Babu Jagjivan Ram.
The Gujarat riots of 2002 saw him quit the NDA in protest and gravitate towards the Congress-led UPA, which came to power two years later. He was appointed the minister for chemicals and fertilizers and steel under Manmohan Singh.
His relations with the Congress got strained during the UPA-2 when he was denied a ministerial berth following his party's debacle in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Paswan himself was defeated at his own citadel of Hajipur.
Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls the BJP, which was looking for allies in Bihar so they could help it make up for the loss of Chief Minister Nitish Kumars JD(U), welcomed him with open arms and offered him seven seats to contest. The LJP won six, including Paswan, his son Chirag and brother Ram Chandra.
As the minister for food and public distribution and consumer affairs under Narendra Modi, Paswan made his mark as a stout votary of the government whenever it came under attack on issues of social justice. He handled efficiently the pulses and sugar sector crisis besides bringing reforms in the Public Distribution System.
He did not contest the recent Lok Sabha polls. His younger brother and Bihar minister Pashupati Kumar Paras won from Hajipur. Paswan is now set to enter the Rajya Sabha, most likely from Bihar.
Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank: Poet-politician gets a ministerial berth
After his term as the Uttarakhand chief minister ended in 2011, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank remained in political wilderness of sorts for eight years.
On Thursday, he was sworn-in as minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet.
During these years, he won every election he contested, but did not get any ministerial berth in his state or at the Centre.
Nishank won the Doiwala assembly seat in 2012. Two years later, he vacated the seat to contest from Haridwar in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, defeating the then chief minister Harish Rawat's wife Renuka by 1.7 lakh votes.
In the 2019 elections, he retained the seat, defeating Ambrish Kumar of the Congress by a bigger margin of 2.59 lakh votes.
Nishank has been elected to the state assembly five times, first in undivided Uttar Pradesh and later Uttarakhand from 1991 to 2014.
He is said to be close to BJP president Amit Shah and Nitin Gadkari. He is also known for proximity to yoga guru Ramdev.
According to a survey conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms, he asked 389 questions in the Lok Sabha, the maximum among the five MPs from the state.
Nishank is a prolific Hindi writer with 36 works to his credit, of which 10 have been translated into other languages.
His works include novels, short stories, poems and travelogues. He holds a PhD degree from Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University.
Nishank hails from Pinani village in Pauri, a district which has produced personalities like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat, Army chief Bipin Rawat and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
