Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday readied to unveil his coalition government after a surprise election setback lost his Hindu-nationalist party an overall majority.
The 71 members of his government took the oath of office after Modi on Sunday, with 11 posts going to coalition allies who extracted them in exchange for their support — including five in the top 30 Cabinet posts.
There are no Muslim lawmakers among his third-term lineup, unlike his past two governments, both formed after his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a majority. Modi’s decade as prime minister has seen him cultivate an image as an aggressive champion of the nation’s majority Hindu faith, worrying minorities, including the country’s 200-million-plus Muslim community.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Honoured to serve Bharat,” he posted on social media after being sworn into office, using the nation’s name in Sanskrit, a word dating back to ancient Hindu scriptures.
Modi had been forced into quick-fire talks with coalition partners in the National Democratic Alliance, whose 293 seats guaranteed him the parliamentary numbers to govern.
The portfolios assigned to each Cabinet member have not been released, but Modi called his council of ministers “a great blend of youth and experience.”
Indian media reported that Modi was to hold his first Cabinet meeting last night, although there was no official confirmation.
The BJP old guard dominate the list, including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman — defense, interior and transport and finance ministers in his last government respectively.
Powerful BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda is also included in the Cabinet.
Earlier yesterday, Modi took his first action, approving the latest tranche of a cash handout for 93 million farmers. Two-thirds of India’s 1.4 billion people draw their livelihood from agriculture, which accounts for nearly one-fifth of the nation’s GDP.
Two posts were handed to each of the largest coalition members, the Telugu Desam Party, from Andhra Pradesh, and the Janata Dal (United) party of Bihar.
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