More than a dozen MPs from Bengaluru, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu were on Sunday inducted into the Council of Ministers led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, rewarding the BJP's alliance partners in the southern states.
JD(S) leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous cabinet, were among those who took oath at a grand ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Shobha Karandlaje, Union minister of state in the previous Modi government, and V Somanna, former minister in the state government – both from the BJP – also took oath.
While Sitharaman, Kumaraswamy and Joshi were given cabinet ranks, Karandlaje and Somanna were made ministers of state. Kumaraswamy, who has been given the ministerial berth from NDA ally JD(S)'s quota, belongs to the prominent Vokkaliga community.
In Karnataka, the NDA won 19 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats, with the BJP winning 17 and the JDS 2. The ruling Congress has won nine seats in the state.
Two TDP MPs from Andhra Pradesh – K Rammohan Naidu and Chandrasekhar Pemmasani – were inducted along with BJP's Srinivas Varma. With assets worth Rs 5700 crore, Pemmasani is the richest minister to join the Council of Ministers in the 18th Lok Sabha.
BJP's lone Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, Suresh Gopi, and senior party leader George Kurien became ministers for the first time. Despite not being an MP, Kurien's inclusion is being seen as BJP's attempt to reach out to the Christian community.
Modi 3.0 government also included BJP leaders from Telangana - Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar.
L Murugan from Tamil Nadu has been included as Minister of State in the new government.
JD(S) leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous cabinet, were among those who took oath at a grand ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Shobha Karandlaje, Union minister of state in the previous Modi government, and V Somanna, former minister in the state government – both from the BJP – also took oath.
While Sitharaman, Kumaraswamy and Joshi were given cabinet ranks, Karandlaje and Somanna were made ministers of state. Kumaraswamy, who has been given the ministerial berth from NDA ally JD(S)'s quota, belongs to the prominent Vokkaliga community.
In Karnataka, the NDA won 19 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats, with the BJP winning 17 and the JDS 2. The ruling Congress has won nine seats in the state.
Two TDP MPs from Andhra Pradesh – K Rammohan Naidu and Chandrasekhar Pemmasani – were inducted along with BJP's Srinivas Varma. With assets worth Rs 5700 crore, Pemmasani is the richest minister to join the Council of Ministers in the 18th Lok Sabha.
BJP's lone Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, Suresh Gopi, and senior party leader George Kurien became ministers for the first time. Despite not being an MP, Kurien's inclusion is being seen as BJP's attempt to reach out to the Christian community.
Modi 3.0 government also included BJP leaders from Telangana - Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar.
L Murugan from Tamil Nadu has been included as Minister of State in the new government.
