Modi 3.0: Seven women inducted as Union ministers in new Modi administration
PTC News Desk: Sunday saw the induction of seven women—two of whom hold positions in the Cabinet—into the 18th Lok Sabha's new council of ministers. There were ten female ministers on the previous council, which was dissolved on June 5.
Former Union Minister Smriti Irani, State Minister Bharti Pawar, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Darshana Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi, and Pratima Bhoumik are among those removed from the council.
The newly appointed female ministers are Anupriya Patel, MP for Apna Dal, BJP MPs Annpurna Devi, Shobha Karandlaje, Raksha Khadse, Savitri Thakur, and Nimuben Bambhaniya, and former Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The others were sworn in as ministers of state, but Sitharaman and Devi were admitted into the union cabinet. In Amethi and Dandori, respectively, Irani and Pawar lost their seats. The BJP did not field Jyoti, Jardosh, Lekhi, or Bhoumik. The new council of ministers now includes Devi, Karandlaje, Khadse, Sehrawat, and Patel, the winners of the most recent elections.
74 women were elected to the Lok Sabha this year, which is a little decline from the 78 women elected in 2019. After the BJP had a majority on its own for two full terms, the new coalition government led by Narendra Modi and his 71 council of ministers assumed office on Sunday.
In 2014, during Modi's first term, eight women were ministers. Six women were sworn in during his second term, and 10 women ministers remained at the end of the 17th Lok Sabha.
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- With inputs from agencies
