PM Modi chairs high-level meet on Kashmir

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet in his historic third term will retain the known faces in the big four ministries - Amit Shah will retain the Home portfolio, Rajnath Singh Defence, Foreign ministry will be retained by S Jaishankar and the Finance ministry by Nirmala Sitharaman. 

The Prime Minister himself will handle the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Space.

Many of the ministers have been retained with their last jobs in the interest of continuity as well. Among them is Nitin Gadkari, who will retain the Road Transport and Highways ministry with two juniors under him -- Ajay Tamta and Harsh Malhotra. The 67-year-old has been the longest serving minister in the department and has been credited with the building of construction of more than 54,858 km of national highways over the last 10 years.

Piyush Goyal has retained the Commerce portfolio.

JP Nadda, the health minister in PM Modi's first cabinet, has been brought back with the same portfolio. He has also been given additional charge of the Chemicals and Fertilisers department.

The plum portfolios of I&B and railways will be handled by Ashwini Vaishnaw. The Civil Aviation Ministry has changed hands from Jyotiraditya Scindia to TDP's Ram Mohan Naidu, the youngest minister in the cabinet. Mr Scindia has been put in charge of the Telecom ministry.

Two former Chief Ministers from the key BJP states of Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, who have been brought to the Centre, have been allocated significant responsibility. Manohar Lal Khattar will handle two key ministries -- Power and Housing and Urban Affairs. For the first, he would have the assistance of junior minister Shripad Naik, for the second, Tokhan Sahu, the first-time minister from Chhattisgarh.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the four-time Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, will handle the key ministry of Agriculture, and the related Farmers Welfare and Rural Development ministries.

Former Minister for Earth Sciences and Food Processing, Kiren Rijiju, has been put in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, previously handled by Pralhad Joshi. Mr Joshi has been moved to the Food, Consumer Affairs and Renewable Energy department.

CR Paatil will be in charge of Jal Shakti ministry and Bhupendra Yadav, Environment. Giriraj Singh has been shifted to Textiles -- a department handled by Smriti Irani. Annapurna Devi will be in charge of the other portfolio handled by Ms Irani -- Women & Child Development. Mansukh Mandavia has been put in charge of Labour and Employment and Sports and Youth Affairs.

Ravneet Singh Bittu -- the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh who was assassinated in 1995 -- will be the junior minster for food processing and railways. Mr Bittu has lost the election from Ludhiana and will have to get a seat in either house of parliament within the next six months.

Among allies, former Bihar Chief Minister and HAM chief Jitan Ram Manjhi will have charge of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises with Shobha Karandlaje as the Minister of State.

South ally and Janata Dal Secular chief HD Kumaraswamy has been put in charge of the Heavy Industries and Steel portfolios.

Key Bihar ally and LJP chief Chirag Paswan has been given charge of the Food Processing department.

Among the Ministers of State with Independent Charge, Dr Jitendra Singh is expected to be the busiest. A third-time Union minister from Jammu and Kashmir, he has been put in charge of multiple portfolios -- Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space and the Prime Minister's Office.

Arjun Ram Meghwal will have Independent charge of for Law and Justice and will also be the junior minister for Parliamentary Affairs.

Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) unanimously elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the ruling bloc's leader on Wednesday. The decision was made during a meeting at Modi's residence in New Delhi, a day after the NDA secured a majority in the Lok Sabha election, paving the way for Modi to take the oath for a third consecutive term, a first for any ruling alliance since 1962.

The meeting, attended by prominent leaders such as TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, LJP(R) leader Chirag Paswan, and NCP leader Praful Patel, also saw the passing of a resolution reaffirming the government's commitment to serving the poor, women, youth, farmers, and deprived sections of society.

The resolution said the NDA government will continue working to lift people's living standards for the country's all-round development while conserving its heritage.

"Over the past 10 years, 1.4 billion Indians have witnessed the country develop in every sector under the leadership of the esteemed Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, through the welfare policies of the NDA government. After a long interval of nearly six decades, the people of India have chosen a strong leadership with an absolute majority for the third consecutive time."

"We all take pride in the fact that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were fought and won by the NDA under the esteemed leadership of Mr. Narendra Modi. All of us NDA leaders unanimously choose the esteemed Mr. Narendra Modi as our leader."

"Under Mr. Modi's leadership, the NDA government is committed to serving India's poor, women, youth, farmers, and the oppressed, deprived, and suffering citizens. By preserving India's heritage, the NDA government will continue to work towards comprehensive development and improving the standard of living for every citizen of India. This proposal was unanimously passed on June 5, 2024, in New Delhi," read the proposal letter passed by the leaders of the NDA in Delhi.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders, in a significant move, passed a resolution emphasizing the alliance government's commitment to serving the marginalized sections of society. The resolution, passed during a meeting in New Delhi, highlighted the NDA's dedication to the welfare and empowerment of the poor, women, youth, farmers, and other deprived segments of the population.

The NDA is set to meet President Droupadi Murmu to stake claim to form the government under Modi's leadership. JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha stated, "The government under the leadership of Narendra Modi will soon be formed, and very soon a meeting of all the MPs will take place." Eknath Shinde expressed his support for Modi, stating, "Modiji has got a majority. The NDA will form the government under Modiji's leadership."

According to the sources, discussions were held on the government formation by the NDA. According to sources, PM Modi will take the oath for the third time on June 8. Discussions are ongoing regarding the allocation of key portfolios to alliance members.

Despite the BJP falling short of the magic number for the first time since 2014, the NDA is comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha. This victory paves the way for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term in office.

Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu dissolved the 17th Lok Sabha on Wednesday after the recommendation of the Union Cabinet.

"The President accepted the advice of the Cabinet on June 5, 2024, and signed the Order dissolving the 17th Lok Sabha in the exercise of the powers conferred upon her by Sub-Clause (2) of Article 85 of the Constitution," a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi tendered his resignation along with his Council of Ministers to President Murmu. The President accepted the resignation and requested that the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers continue until the new government assumes office.

Also, a meeting of the opposition coalition, INDIA bloc, is convened in Delhi on Wednesday evening. INC president Mallikarjun Kharge said that leaders of the alliance will be meeting to discuss the election results and strategy thereafter.

President Droupadi Murmu on Friday invited Narendra Modi to form a government at the Centre after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) elected him as the parliamentary party leader. PM Modi met the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan to stake claim to form the government.

Narendra Modi is expected to be sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time at 6 pm on June 9 (Sunday).

Addressing the media after his meeting with the President, Narendra Modi said that President Murmu gave him the letter to designate him as the Prime Minister and sought details of a suitable time for the swearing-in ceremony. She also sought the list of ministers to take the oath with him, the PM-designate said.

"The NDA meeting was held earlier today, where friends from the alliance have chosen me for this responsibility. All the NDA allies informed the President about this, and the President called me and appointed me as PM-designate. She informed me about the swearing-in ceremony and list of Cabinet ministers. I have informed her that evening of June 9 will be suitable for us," Narendra Modi told reporters.

The NDA, consisting of the BJP, Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United, and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena among others, has 293 MPs, comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The alliance has submitted its list of MPs to the President today.

Earlier today, the NDA leaders assembled here at the Central Hall of the old Parliament Building. Besides NDA MPs, senior leaders of the alliance, including chief ministers, were present. Besides Chandrabadu Naidu, Nitish Kumar and Eknath Shinde, Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Anupriya Patel, Pawan Kalyan were among the NDA leaders present on the main dais, alongside senior BJP leaders.

Senior leader Rajnath Singh proposed a resolution in support of Modi's leadership and the NDA MPs endorsed it. Later, the list of parliamentarians supporting Narendra Modi was submitted to the president.