Former Union Minister Ajit Singh, son of former PM Charan Singh, dies of covid

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.

Dalit and 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.

In a remarkable event, the 130-year-old Algerian woman received a warm reception as Saudi officials welcomed her upon her arrival in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A woman named Sarhouda Setit made the journey to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to participate in the annual Hajj 2024 (1445 AH). Before embarking on her journey, Setit underwent the necessary preparations to assume the state of Ihram.

Saudi Airlines celebrated her arrival as she was the oldest pilgrim to the Kingdom. The Saudi group published on its official handle on X about the arrival of the oldest pilgrim from Algeria.

Her determination to the Haj despite her age garnered significant attention from people around the world.

This year, many groups in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from all over the world have arrived in KSA to perform one of the five pillars of Islam.

Saudi authorities are preparing to host more than 1.5 million pilgrims who will undertake their Hajj pilgrimage this week. It is expected that the numbers will increase during the coming period.

For Muslims across the globe, Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Makkah holy city where scared Kabba is located.

Once in life, Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims, and it is considered one of the five pillars of Islam. The necessity of Hajj for Muslims is rooted in several key aspects.

New Delhi: If shocking trends on counting day could be ranked, Uttar Pradesh would be the topper. Nearly three hours into the counting of votes for Lok Sabha polls, the BJP's big bastion in the past two general elections is witnessing en epic neck-and-neck battle between the BJP-led NDA and INDIA bloc comprising Samajwadi Party and Congress. In fact, INDIA bloc holds a slim lead over NDA. 

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led NDA won 62 of the state's 80 seats, with the BSP and Samajwadi Party, then allies, winning 10 and five seats, respectively. This time, the BSP is on its own, and early trends do not suggest that it will pull off a good show.

While the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party is contesting 62 seats, the Congress is fighting 17.

The BJP has stuck to its old ally, Apna Dal (Sonelal), and has also brought in Jayant Chaudhary's RLD and OP Rajbhar's Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party into the NDA fold.

For the Congress, Amethi and Rae Bareli, its family strongholds, are prestige battles. This holds especially true for Amethi, where Rahul Gandhi lost to BJP's Smriti Irani last time. As of 11 am, Ms Irani is trailing to Congress's Kishori Lal Sharma, a Gandhi family loyalist. In Rae Bareli, Mr Gandhi is leading by over 60,000 votes.

Exit polls had earlier given the NDA an edge in Uttar Pradesh, but the INDIA bloc leaders had dismissed the projections.

Key Lok Sabha Seats

Among the key Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently leading over Congress's Ajay Rai in Varanasi, while Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is ahead in Rae Bareli.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is leading from the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat.

In Lucknow, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is seeking a third term, is leading over SP's Ravidas Mehrotra and BSP candidate Sarwar Malik.

Hema Malini, BJP's actor-turned-politician, is ahead in the Mathura constituency against Congress' Mukesh Dhangar.

Union minister Smriti Irani is trailing behind Congress' Kishori Lal Sharma in Amethi.