New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the first meeting of his Cabinet on Monday and allocated portfolios to the council of ministers a day after taking oath at Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
Key ministries in the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government were allocated to senior leaders of the BJP: Home Affairs to Amit Shah, Defence to Rajnath Singh, External Affairs to S Jaishankar, Road Transport to Nitin Gadkari and Finance to Nirmala Sitharaman. The allocations target continuity and were largely on the lines of the previous NDA government.
First-time MP and four-time chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been made the Union Agriculture Minister. BJP president JP Nadda has been named Union Health Minister.
The BJP had to rely on its NDA allies to form the government after securing 240 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, way less than was projected by exit polls. In the week after the election, speculation was rife that the TDP, with 16 seats, and the JD(U) with 12 would get crucial cabinet posts in return for supporting the government. The NDA has 293 seats in the Lok Sabha. The Opposition INDIA alliance has 234 seats.
Among the allies, TDP’s K Ram Mohan Naidu has become the Union Civil Aviation minister. JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh aka Lalan Singh has become the Minister for Panchayati Raj.
The union cabinet in the Narendra Modi government has 30 ministers. In addition, the Union Council of Ministers has 5 Ministers of state with independent charge and 36 Ministers of state.
According to an official press release, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be also in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space, all important policy issues, and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister.
Here is the list of Union ministries allocated:
| Minister | Portfolio | |
| 1 | Rajnath Singh | Minister of Defence. |
| 2. | Amit Shah | Minister of Home Affairs; andMinister of Cooperation. |
| 3. | Nitin Jairam Gadkari | Minister of Road Transport and Highways. |
| 4. | Jagat Prakash Nadda | Minister of Health and Family Welfare; andMinister of Chemicals and Fertilizers. |
| 5. | Shivraj Singh Chouhan | Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; andMinister of Rural Development. |
| 6. | Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman | Minister of Finance; andMinister of Corporate Affairs. |
| 7. | Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar | Minister of External Affairs. |
| 8. | Manohar Lal | Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs; andMinister of Power. |
| 9. | H. D. Kumaraswamy | Minister of Heavy Industries; andMinister of Steel. |
| 10. | Piyush Goyal | Minister of Commerce and Industry. |
| 11. | Dharmendra Pradhan | Minister of Education. |
| 12. | Jitan Ram Manjhi | Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. |
| 13. | Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh | Minister of Panchayati Raj; andMinister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. |
| 14. | Sarbananda Sonowal | Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. |
| 15. | Dr. Virendra Kumar | Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment. |
| 16. | Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu | Minister of Civil Aviation. |
| 17. | Pralhad Joshi | Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; andMinister of New and Renewable Energy. |
| 18. | Jual Oram | Minister of Tribal Affairs. |
| 19. | Giriraj Singh | Minister of Textiles. |
| 20. | Ashwini Vaishnaw | Minister of Railways;Minister of Information and Broadcasting; andMinister of Electronics and Information Technology. |
| 21. | Jyotiraditya M. Scindia | Minister of Communications; andMinister of Development of North Eastern Region. |
| 22. | Bhupender Yadav | Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. |
| 23. | Gajendra Singh Shekhawat | Minister of Culture; andMinister of Tourism. |
| 24. | Smt. Annpurna Devi | Minister of Women and Child Development |
| 25. | Kiren Rijiju | Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; andMinister of Minority Affairs. |
| 26. | Hardeep Singh Puri | Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas |
| 27. | Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya | Minister of Labour and Employment; andMinister of Youth Affairs and Sports. |
| 28. | G. Kishan Reddy | Minister of Coal; andMinister of Mines. |
| 29. | Chirag Paswan | Minister of Food Processing Industries. |
| 30. | C R Patil | Minister of Jal Shakti. |
MINISTERS OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
| 1. | Rao Inderjit Singh | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation;Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Culture. |
| 2. | Dr. Jitendra Singh | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology;Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences;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; andMinister of State in the Department of Space. |
| 3. | Arjun Ram Meghwal | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Law and Justice; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. |
| 4. | Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayush; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. |
| 5. | Jayant Chaudhary | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Education. |
MINISTERS OF STATE
| 1. | Jitin Prasada | Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. |
| 2. | pad Yesso Naik | Minister of State in the Ministry of Power; andMinister of State in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. |
| 3. | Pankaj Chaudhary | Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance. |
| 4. | Krishan Pal | Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation. |
| 5. | Ramdas Athawale | Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. |
| 6. | Ram Nath Thakur | Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. |
| 7. | Nityanand Rai | Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs. |
| 8. | Smt. Anupriya Patel | Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. |
| 9. | V. Somanna | Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Railways. |
| 10. | Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani | Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Communications. |
| 11. | Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel | Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. |
| 12. | Su Sobha Karandlaje | Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Employment. |
| 13. | Kirtivardhan Singh | Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; andMinister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs. |
| 14. | B. L. Verma | Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. |
| 15. | Shantanu Thakur | Minister of State in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. |
| 16. | Suresh Gopi | Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Tourism. |
| 17. | Dr. L. Murugan | Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. |
| 18. | Ajay Tamta | Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. |
| 19. | Bandi Sanjay Kumar | Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs. |
| 20. | Kamlesh Paswan | Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development. |
| 21. | Bhagirath Choudhary | Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. |
| 22. | Satish Chandra Dubey | Minister of State in the Ministry of Coal; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Mines. |
| 23. | Sanjay Seth | Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence. |
| 24. | Ravneet Singh | Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Railways. |
| 25. | Durgadas Uikey | Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. |
| 26. | Smt. Raksha Nikhil Khadse | Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. |
| 27. | Sukanta Majumdar | Minister of State in the Ministry of Education; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region. |
| 28. | Smt. Savitri Thakur | Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development. |
| 29. | Tokhan Sahu | Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. |
| 30. | Raj Bhushan Choudhary | Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti. |
| 31. | Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma | Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Steel. |
| 32. | Harsh Malhotra | Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. |
| 33. | Smt. Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya | Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. |
| 34. | Murlidhar Mohol | Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. |
| 35. | George Kurian | Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. |
| 36. | Pabitra Margherita | Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; andMinister of State in the Ministry of Textiles. |