CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l monday l JUNE 10, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his ministers after the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Sunday. President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar are also seen | Shekhar Yadav Coalition and continuity in Modi Rajnath, Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman, Jaishankar in top team RA J E SH K U M AR THA K U R @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi returned to power on Sunday with almost all his topranked ministers, giving a clear indication that he will take forward the policies and agendas set in the NDA-II government. However, the Modi 3.0 government will have to take its coalition partners along. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office and secrecy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his 72-member cabinet comprising 30 cabinet ministers, 5 ministers with independent charge, and 36 ministers of state at the forecourts of the Rashtrapti Bhavan. The event was attended by about 8,000 guests, which included specially invited foreign dignitaries. With the oath taken for a third consecutive term, Modi also became the first non-Congress leader and the second PM after Jawaharlal Nehru to remain in power for three consecutive terms. Dressed in a white kurta with a matching blue-colured jacket, Modi took the oath in Hindi as the head of NDA-III government. After Modi, Rajnath Singh, who was the defence minister in the previous government, was administered the oath of office. Amit Shah, home minister in the previous government, was the next to be sworn in. Nitin Gadkari and J P Nadda fol- lowed next. In the 2024 general election, the BJP did not achieve its target of winning of 370 Lok Sabha seats on its own as it got only 240 while the NDA as a whole won 293 seats. After taking oath, PM Modi said his government will continue working for 140 crore Indians and fulfil their dreams. Notably, Modi dropped three senior leaders — Anurag Thakur (elected but not inducted), Smriti Irani (lost the elect i o n ) , a n d R a j e ev C h a n drasekhar (lost) — though there were speculation they might be included in the cabinet. Among the 30 cabinet ministers who took the oath included Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hardeep Puri, Giriraj Singh, Dr Jitendra Singh, Ram Das Athawale, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Meghawal, Bhupendra Yadav, Mansukh Mandaviya, Sarbananda Sonowal, Kiren Rijiju, G Kishan Reddy, Nityanand Rai, Dharamendra Pradhan, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Pralhad Joshi, Virendra Kumar, S P Singh Baghel, L Murugan, and Anupriya Patel. Among the new faces are Suresh Gopi and George Kurian from Kerala; Ajay Tamta (Uttarakhand); Shantanu Thakur and Sukanta Majumdar (West Bengal); C R Patil (Gujarat); Raj Bhushan Chaudhary and Ramnath Thakur (Bihar), among others. Chouhan, Nadda, Khattar among new ministers Representation from across states, sections, and classes RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new cabinet reflects a pan-India presence as it has representation from across 24 states and Union territories. The ministers belong to various sections, classes, and backgrounds. Though the BJP did not fare well in Uttar Pradesh, the representation of ministers from this state is at 9 – higher than other states and UTs. Bihar has 8 ministers, Maharashtra and Gujarat have 6 ministers each, while Karnataka has 5. As assembly elections in Bihar is in 2025 and BJP with JDU and other local allies is aiming to win big in assembly elections, the state was given 8 ministers spread across its allies JDU, LJP and HAM. Out of the 72 ministers inducted in the cabinet, 43 ministers have more than 3 terms in the ministry while 39 are with past ministerial experiences. Thirty-four have already served in state legisla- BJD defeat: Pandian quits politics Former bureaucrat V K Pandian on Sunday announced his withdrawal from active politics following the BJD’s drubbing in both the assembly and Lok Sabha polls. “My intent in joining politics was only to assist Naveen Babu, and now I consciously decide to withdraw from active politics,” he said | P5 tures. Notably, 23 ministers inducted in the third term cabinet of Modi government have experience in working as ministers in states and 27 are from OBC, 10 from Scheduled Castes, and five from Scheduled Tribes. Among the most notable inductions are Suresh Gopi and George Kurian from Left-ruled Kerala, where the BJP managed to open its account this time. Also, ministerial berths have been given to 5 MPs from various minority communities. This time, the cabinet has more experienced politicians as ministers than the NDA’s first and second terms. With a target of making India the world’s third largest economy in next five years, PM Modi has five former chief ministers— Jitan Ram Manjhi from Bihar, H D Kumaraswami from Karnataka, Shivraj Singh Chauhan from Madhya Pradesh, Manohar Lal Khattar from Haryana, and Sarbananda Sonowal from Assam. The Modi 3.0 cabinet will have seven women ministers, including two in the Cabinet role. The new ministers inducted into the council of ministers are former Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman; BJP MPs Annpurna Devi, Shobha Karandlaje, Raksha Khadse, Savitri Thakur, and Nimuben Bambhaniya; and Apna Dal MP Anupriya Patel. There were 10 women ministers in the previous council of ministers, which was dissolved on June 5. NCP rejects MoS rank, insists on cabinet berth Su d h i r Su r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Sunday turned down the BJP’s offer to make its leader Praful Patel a minister of state with independent charge in the new NDA government. Patel said since he had already served as a cabinet minister in the UPA government, accepting the of fice of the minister of state with independent charge would be a demotion for him. Par ty leader Ajit Pawar concurred and said the NCP has told the BJP it is ready to wait for a few more days, but it wants a cabinet berth. BJP leader and Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP had decided on a criteria for handing out ministerial berths to coalition partners on the basis of their nunbers. “But because of one party, the criteria cannot be twisted,” he said. “The NCP will be accommodated in future whenever their will be an expansion of the Cabinet,” he added. Cabinet ministers Rajnath Singh Amit Shah Nitin Gadkari JP Nadda Shivraj Singh Chouhan Nirmala Sitharaman S Jaishankar Manohar Lal Khattar HD Kumaraswamy Piyush Goyal Dharmendra Pradhan Jitan Ram Manjhi Lalan Singh Sarbananda Sonowal Virendra Kumar Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu Pralhad Joshi Jual Oram Ashwini Vaishnaw Giriraj Singh Jyotiraditya Scindia Bhupender Yadav Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Annapurna Devi Kiren Rijiju Hardeep Singh Puri Mansukh Mandaviya G Kishan Reddy Chirag Paswan CR Patil Ministers of State with independent charge Rao Inderjit Singh Jitendra Singh Arjun Ram Meghwal Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav Jayant Chaudhary Ministers of State Jitin Prasada Shripad Naik Pankaj Chaudhary Krishan Pal Gurjar Ramdas Athawale Ram Nath Thakur Nityanand Rai Anupriya Patel V Somanna Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani SP Singh Baghel Shobha Karandlaje Kirti Vardhan Singh BL Verma Shantanu Thakur Suresh Gopi L Murugan Ajay Tamta Bandi Sanjay Kumar Kamlesh Paswan Bhagirath Chaudhary Satish Chandra Dubey Sanjay Seth Ravneet Singh Bittu Durga Das Uikey Raksha Khadse Sukanta Majumdar George Kurian Wild card George pairs up with top seed Suresh Gopi Scrapping of 465-MW E x p r e s s N e w s Se v i c e @T’Puram Buoyed by its impressive election performance in the state, the BJP national leadership sprang a surprise, swearing in senior leader George Kurian, a wild card, along with Suresh Gopi, the first elected Lok Sabha member of the saffron party from Kerala, as ministers of state in the Narendra Modi government on Sunday . Though speculation was rife that Suresh would be given a cabinet berth, there was uncertainty until Sunday morning as the actor-MP stayed put at his residence in Thiruvananthapuram. Suresh, Suresh Gopi George Kurian who had earlier indicated that he may not take up ministerial responsibilities owing to movie-related commitments, hurriedly left for the airport at 11.15 am. Speaking to reporters, 65-year- old Suresh said Modi had instructed him to reach the national capital immediately. “He (Modi) has decided and I am obeying him,” he said, adding he intended to work as an MP for Kerala and neighbouring Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, George Kurian’s inclusion in the council of ministers was kept a secret till a few hours before the swearing-in. Currently the state general secretary of the BJP and a staunch loyalist of former Union minister V Muraleedharan, George had served as the vice chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities and also enjoys a rapport 9 killed as terrorists open fire at pilgrims’ bus F aya z w a n i @ Srinagar At least nine persons were killed and 43 injured when a bus carrying pilgrims plunged into a gorge after coming under terrorist fire in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district on Sunday evening. As the terrorists opened fire, the driver lost control of the vehicle and the 53-seater bus fell into a gorge, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Reasi, Mohita Shar- ma said. Sharma said the bus was on its way from Shiv Khori to Katra when it was ambushed in the Kanda area of Pouni, which falls on the border of Reasi and Rajouri districts. “The rescue operation has been completed and nine people have died in the incident,” the SSP said. Police found empty cartridges near the site of the attack. An official said eight pilgrims died on the spot while another died while being rushed to the hospital. “Nineteen injured have been referred to Reasi hospitals while 25 injured were rushed to Rajouri hospitals for treatment,” he said. As per doctors treating them, some of the injured are in critical condition. Asked whether any of the dead or injured were hit by bullets, the SSP said, “It is being ascertained”. The pilgrims were from Uttar Pradesh. with the BJP central leadership. George was handpicked as part of the party’s continued efforts to win the confidence of the Christian community, BJP sources said. Relations between the community and the saf fron par ty had soured against the backdrop of the Manipur violence. George is a known face of BJP in TV debates. The induction of George, who is seen as a bridge between the leaders of various church denominations and the BJP could be , seen in the context of the next assembly polls in Kerala, due in ● More on P4 2026. EXPRESS READ Ved Lahoti from Delhi zone tops JEE-Advanced New Delhi: Ved Lahoti from the Delhi zone has topped the IIT entrance exam JEE-Advanced securing 355 out of 360 marks, the highest ever, officials said on Sunday. The previous highest was 352 in 2022. The second rank has been bagged by Aditya (Delhi zone) followed by Bhogalpalli Sandesh (Madras zone) at the third position. power pact resulted in `2,130-cr loss: Report C y n t h i a C h a n d r a n @ T’Puram The Annual Administration Report (ARR) of the state electricity board has revealed that the KSEB incurred a loss of more than `2,130 crore due to the cancellation of the long-term 465-MW Power Purchase Agreement in May 2023. The cancellation of the agreement had resulted in the board purchasing power at exorbitant rates from exchanges during peak summer. INTUC, the Congress-led trade union, has demanded that the loss be recovered from the officials responsible for the cancellation of the pact, rather than becoming a burden on the consumers. The agreement to purchase 465 MW power at `4.26 per unit for 25 years was cancelled by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) citing procedural and technical lapses. The pact was floated by former power minister Aryadan Mohammed during the first Oommen Chandy-led UDF government. Aryadan had come out with the long-term PPA to avoid loadshedding in future. On May 10, 2023, the KSERC rejected the KSEB’s petition to procure 465 MW power from four power companies — 115 MW from Jhabua Power Ltd, 150 MW from Jindal Power Ltd, and 100 MW each from Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd and Jhabua Power ● More on P4 Ltd. India batter Virat Kohli walks back after getting out to Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah during the T20 World Cup match in New York on Sunday. India won the match by 6 runs | ap Carlos wins 1st french open title Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest men’s player to win Majors in all three surfaces. The 21-year-old prevailed 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 against Alexander Zverev in Paris on Sunday
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