In a grand ceremony held at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath for the third consecutive time. Following his oath, several key leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were inducted into the Union Cabinet by President Draupadi Murmu.

 

 

Amit Anilchandra Shah, the second minister to be sworn in after Rajnath Singh, took his oath as a Union Cabinet Minister. The 59-year-old BJP leader and key strategist, who served as the Union Home Minister in the previous Modi government, had a landslide victory in the 2023 Lok Sabha elections. Shah won Gujarat’s Gandhinagar seat by a margin of 7,44,716 votes, securing 10,10,972 votes against Congress’ Sonal Patel, who received 2,66,256 votes.

 

 

Nitin Gadkari, BJP leader and Nagpur MP, also took oath as a Union Cabinet Minister. Gadkari triumphed in the Nagpur constituency, defeating his nearest Congress rival by a margin of 1,37,603 votes. He garnered 6,55,027 votes, while Congress’ Vikas Thakre received 5,17,424 votes. The BSP candidate, Yogesh Lanjewar, came third with 19,242 votes, and 5,474 votes went to NOTA. Despite his victory, Gadkari’s winning margin decreased by 78,397 votes compared to the 2019 election, when he defeated Congress’ Nana Patole by 2,16,000 votes. Gadkari first contested the Nagpur constituency in 2014, winning by 2,84,828 votes.

 

 

S. Jaishankar, who served as the External Affairs Minister during Modi’s second term, was also inducted into the Union Cabinet. A BJP MP in Rajya Sabha from Gujarat since 2019, Jaishankar has been a central figure in shaping India’s foreign policy over the last decade. Known for his oratory skills and sharp responses, he was present at the high tea hosted by the Prime Minister before the ceremony.

 

 

Nirmala Sitharaman, a seasoned Union Minister from both the 2014 and 2019 Modi cabinets, took her oath as a Union Cabinet Minister. She has previously held positions as the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Minister for Commerce and Industry with Independent Charge, and was appointed as the Union Defence Minister in 2017.

 

 

Jagat Prakash Nadda, the BJP President since 2019, also took his oath as a Union Cabinet Minister. Nadda, who served as the Union Health Minister from 2014-2019, led the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and several assembly polls. He is currently a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat.