Who is not in Modi 3.0 cabinet
Ahead of his swearing-in ceremony, Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi hosted a tea meeting at his residence on Sunday. The meeting, which was attended by both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members and leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), seems to hint at who will and who will not be in the new council of ministers. Notably absent at the meeting was Smriti Irani, who recently lost the Lok Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi.
Absence noted at pre-Cabinet formation gathering
Other prominent BJP leaders, such as Anurag Thakur and Narayan Rane, were also absent. Thakur and Rane, despite their electoral victories in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur and Maharashtra's Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, respectively, will not be part of Modi 3.0 cabinet, reports said. Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Narayan Rane, Bharti Pawar, and Raosaheb Danve are also believed to have not made the list.
New faces expected in Modi 3.0 Cabinet
While Irani, Thakur, and Rane face exclusion, several BJP leaders most likely to join the Modi 3.0 cabinet are Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar, and Nitin Gadkari, among others. Leaders from other parties in the NDA, such as HD Kumaraswamy and Jayant Chaudhary, will also be included. Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has confirmed two ministers for the Modi 3.0 Cabinet.
New inductees expected in Union Council of Ministers
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai is expected to be inducted as Minister of State. Annamalai, who contested the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency, lost the seat to DMK's Ganapathy Rajkumar P with a margin of 1,18,068 votes. Other potential additions include Manohar Lal Khattar, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and Ravneet Singh Bittu. Modi will take the oath as prime minister of India on Sunday at 7:15pm.
