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Over a dozen South Indian MPs in Modi Cabinet 3.0

Karnataka has the most number of ministers in the new Cabinet — five — including Nirmala Sitharaman, who represents the state in the Rajya Sabha.

ByPTI

Published Jun 10, 2024 | 8:13 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 10, 2024 | 10:06 AM

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the new Cabinet of ministers. (Narendra Modi/X)

More than a dozen parliamentarians from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu were inducted on Sunday, 9 June, in the Council of Ministers led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, rewarding the BJP’s coalition partners in the southern states.

BJP leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous Cabinet, were among those who took oath here at a grand ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Union Minister of State in the previous Modi government, Shobha Karandlaje, and former minister in the state government V Somanna — both from BJP — were also sworn in.

Related: HD Kumaraswamy, Suresh Gopi, Nirmala Sitharaman among ministers

Ministers of state: Karandlaje and Somanna

While JD(S) leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, Sitharaman, and Joshi were given Cabinet rank, Karandlaje and Somanna were made Ministers of State. Kumaraswamy, who has been given a minister post from NDA partner JD(S)’ quota, is from the dominant Vokkaliga community.

Sitaraman represents Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha.

The NDA got 19 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, with BJP winning 17 and JD(S) in 2. The ruling Congress in the state has won nine seats.

Two TDP MPs — K Rammohan Naidu and Chandrasekhar Pemmasani — along with BJP’s Srinivasa Varma were inducted from Andhra Pradesh. Pemmasani with an asset of ₹5,700 crore is the richest minister to join the council of ministers in the 18th Lok Sabha.

Related: Suresh Gopi’s multi-faceted career

Two ministers from Kerala

From Kerala, Suresh Gopi, the lone BJP Lok Sabha MP in the state, and senior party leader George Kurian became ministers for the first time. Kurian’s inclusion despite not being an MP is seen as the BJP’s attempt to reach out to the Christian community.

BJP leaders from Telangana — G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar — were also included in the Modi 3.0 government.

From Tamil Nadu, L Murugan was included as Minister of State in the new government.

(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)