NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s top four ministers — Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar — have retained their respective home, defence, finance and external affairs portfolios, according to an official statement.
Among the new entrants to the Union Cabinet, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been given the agriculture and rural development portfolios, BJP president J P Nadda the health portfolio and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar the power portfolio.
Meanwhile, Nitin Gadkari has also retained the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Ajay Tamta and Harsh Malhotra have been appointed as Ministers of State in the ministry.
HD Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular), who took oath after Mr Khattar, was the first leader from any of the BJP’s allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to take oath. Soon after, Janata Dal (United) leader Lalan Singh, a close aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, also took the oath.
BJP MP and party chief JP Nadda, has been assigned the Ministry of Health in Modi 3.0. Mr Nadda will be replacing Mansukh Mandaviya. The former Health Minister has been given the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the Cabinet.
HD Kumaraswamy, the MP from BJP ally Janata Dal (Secular), has been allocated the Ministry of Heavy Industries
Kiren Rijiju, who was the Minister of Earth Sciences, And Minister of Food Processing Industries in the previous term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet, has been appointed the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, replacing Prahlad Joshi.
Meanwhile, Mr Joshi has been allocated the Food, Consumer Affairs and Renewable Energy ministry
Dharmendra Pradhan has retained the Ministry of Education in Modi 3.0. Bhupendra Yadav has also retained the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India
CR Paatil, the BJP MP from Gujarat, has been appointed as the Minister of Jal Shakti in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet.
Ram Mohan Naidu from BJP’s ally Telugu Desam Party, has been appointed the Civil Aviation Minister. The young MP will take over the ministry from Jyotiraditya Scindia, who won the Guna seat in Madhya Pradesh.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who took oath yesterday, has been appointed the new Agriculture Minister.
Jitan Ram Manjhi from Hindustani Awam Morcha, an ally of the BJP, has been allocated the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
Ashwini Vaishnaw has retained Railways Ministry, a key portfolio in the Cabinet. He has been given an additional charge as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting. Anurag Thakur, the BJP MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, was the I&B minister in the Modi cabinet in the previous term.
Former Chief Minister of Haryana and first-time MP, Manohar Lal Khattar, has been allocated the Power Ministry along with Housing and Urban Affairs. Shripad Yesso Naik has been appointed Minister of State, Power, while Tokhan Sahu has been appointed as MoS, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Amit Shah has retained the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Rajnath Singh has retained the Defence Ministry in Modi 3.0. Meanwhile, Nitin Gadkari has retained the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Ajay Tamta and Harsh Malhotra have been appointed as Ministers of State in the ministry.
Nirmala Sitharaman has retained the Ministry of Finance and S Jaishankar will continue the charge of leading the Ministry of External Affairs. No changes have been made in Big 4 – Ministry of Defence, Home Affairs, Finance and External Affairs, in Modi 3.0.

Agencies