New Delhi: The 71 Union ministers who were sworn in alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday include 10 Dalits, 27 from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 21 from the ‘upper’ castes, five from tribal groups and five representing religious minorities. However, there are no Muslims.
In the previous term of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was the minority affairs minister, but he resigned in 2022 after his term in the Rajya Sabha came to an end and was replaced by Smriti Irani. This time, no Muslim minister has been sworn in. No Muslim MPs from the NDA were elected to the Lok Sabha this time.
The five ministers from minority communities in the Modi Government 3.0 include Hardeep Singh Puri, Ravneet Singh Bittu, George Kurian, Kiren Rijiju and Ramdas Athawale. While Puri and Athawale are Rajya Sabha MPs and Rijiju won the Lok Sabha elections from Arunachal Pradesh, Bittu lost the elections from Punjab and Kurian, a Kerala BJP general secretary, did not contest.
After the 2019 general election, 57 ministers were sworn in, of whom 32 were from ‘upper’ castes, 13 from OBCs, six from Scheduled Castes and four from Scheduled Tribes. However, the Council of Ministers was subsequently expanded in 2021 and included 27 OBCs, 12 SCs, eight STs and 30 from the ‘upper’ castes.
The share of representatives of the ‘upper’ castes is down after many ‘upper-caste’ candidates lost in Uttar Pradesh.
Focus on Dalit, tribal groups
In Modi’s second term, the late Ram Vilas Paswan, Thawar Chand Gehlot and Virendra Kumar were among the Dalit ministers. Kumar, who had succeeded Gehlot as the minister for social justice and empowerment, has made it to the cabinet this time, too, after winning his eighth Lok Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh.
Besides him, Paswan’s son and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan, and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, are among the new Dalit cabinet ministers.
Arjun Ram Meghwal from Rajasthan, who was serving as the law minister in the previous term, has been inducted this time as minister of state (independent charge). In addition, Athawale, S.P. Singh Baghel, L. Murugan and Kamlesh Paswan will be ministers of state.
A senior BJP leader said, “More Dalit ministers have been added this time, which was necessary since the party lost a significant chunk of Dalit votes. Not just that, religious minorities ranging from Sikhs to Christians have been given representation.”
There are also five ministers from tribal groups, same as the 2019-2024 term. Jual Oram from Odisha, who had also served as a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet and has won the Lok Sabha elections six times, has been elevated to the position of a cabinet minister. Arjun Munda, another prominent tribal leader from the party, lost the election this time.
Sarbananda Sonowal, Savitri Thakur and Durga Das Uikey are other ministers from tribal groups.
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Bihar & the caste balance
Bihar, which elected 30 MPs from the NDA coalition to the Lok Sabha, has gained representation in the Council of Ministers. In 2019, there were five ministers from Bihar. This time, there are eight, with six fresh faces.
Of the eight, three are from OBCs, three from upper castes and two are Dalits.
Bihar is an important state for the BJP and its ally, Janata Dal (United), and is heading for assembly elections next year.
The incoming government has accommodated two ‘upper-caste’ Bhumihar ministers — Lallan Singh and Giriraj Singh — as Bhumihars are a dominant caste group in the state. Rajya Sabha MP Satish Chandra Dubey represents the Brahmin community. In the previous term, Ashwini Choubey was the Brahmin minister from Bihar.
From the extremely backward castes, the coalition has inducted Ram Nath Thakur, son of former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur. In addition, there is Raj Bhushan Nishad from the Mallah community, who won the Muzaffarpur seat.
Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi are the Dalit ministers from the state. No one from the Rajput community in the state was added to the council despite Rajiv Pratap Rudy’s victory in the polls. There is no Kushwaha minister either.
Poll-bound states
From Haryana, where assembly elections are due later this year, BJP has picked Rao Inderjit Singh, an influential leader of the Ahir OBC community, yet again. Other ministers from the state include Krishan Pal Gurjar from the Gurjar community and former CM Manohar Lal Khattar, a Punjabi Khatri.
The BJP has also not inducted any ministers from the Jat community in the state. The party’s loss in five of the 10 seats in the state is believed to reflect resentment for the party among the Jats.
According to a Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS)-Lokniti post-poll survey, BJP saw a major loss of vote share in Haryana. From 58 percent in 2019, the vote share dropped to 46 percent in 2024. The survey noted that the party’s voter base among the Jats, OBCs and SCs shrank significantly.
In Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, the BJP saw its Lok Sabha seat tally reduce to nine from 23 and to 33 from 62 respectively, compared to 2019.
Maharashtra is gearing up for assembly polls this year, now with a smaller group of NDA MPs. Six of these have been picked as ministers, including Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Raksha Khadse, Pratap Rao Jadhav, Ramdas Athawale and Murlidhar Mohol.
In 2019, there were eight ministers from the state. The names of Narayan Rane and Bhagwat Karad were dropped.
The BJP wanted to induct one member from the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), but the idea was dropped, likely due to the tussle between elected MPs Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel over the ministerial berth.
In Jharkhand, BJP faced a setback this time, with prominent tribal leaders like Arjun Munda suffering losses. Jharkhand goes to the polls in December and the absence of tribal ministers from the state could hurt the BJP’s chances.
The party has elevated Annapurna Devi, a former minister of state from the Yadav community, to the cabinet, in an attempt to focus on the women and OBC voter base in the state. Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth from Vaishya community has been made a minister of state.
A Jharkhand BJP leader said, “Jharkhand is a crucial state. The elevation of Annapurna Devi is a big jump, but there is a need to bring a tribal face into the cabinet.”
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Uttar Pradesh & Rajasthan
The massive setback for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh has not impacted the state’s representation in the Council of Ministers.
In 2019, 10 ministers from UP were included in the council. Of these, seven lost the elections this time, while BJP’s number of MPs from the state has shrunk by 29.
Among the nine ministers from the state this time, four belong to OBCs, three to upper castes and two to the Dalit community.
The party has included five old faces — Rajnath Singh, Anupriya Patel, B.L. Verma, S.P. Singh Baghel and Pankaj Chaudhary. Four ministers are new. Jitin Prasada, a Brahmin, who has served as a minister in the UP cabinet, and was a Union minister in the Manmohan Singh-led government during UPA-2, has made a comeback to the Council of Ministers.
Jayant Chaudhary, a Jat face and chief of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), has made an entry into cabinet, following in the footsteps of his father, Ajit Singh. Other new ministers are Kirti Vardhan Singh from the Rajput community and Kamlesh Paswan, a Dalit.
Minister Hardeep Singh Puri is also a Rajya Sabha MP from UP.
With respect to Rajasthan, where the BJP lost 13 Lok Sabha seats, there have been few changes. Bhupendra Yadav, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat have retained their spots in the cabinet. The only addition is Ajmer MP Bhagirath Choudhary, a Jat.
From Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP won all 29 seats, five ministers have been picked, much like the previous term.
Representation from southern states
Telegana elected eight BJP MPs to the Lok Sabha, and the party has picked two leaders from the state for the cabinet — Bandi Sanjay Kumar from the dominant Kapu community, and G. Kishan Reddy from the Reddy community.
In Kerala, where the party has finally opened its account, it has not just inducted Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi, but also pulled a surprise by selecting BJP general secretary George Kurian, continuing its outreach to Christians in the state. In 2019, John Barla from West Bengal was the sole Christian minister.
From Andhra Pradesh, where BJP ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has a major stake in the alliance, the Modi government will have three ministers — two from the general category and one from the OBCs.
In Karnataka, the BJP has tried to strike a balance between the competing dominant caste groups, Lingayats and Vokkaligas, by picking H.D. Kumaraswamy and Shobha Karandlaje from the Vokkaliga community and V. Somanna from the Lingayat group.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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