India’s Modi unveils BJP-dominated cabinet. Will his allies demand more ministerial roles?

PM Narendra Modi will be able to ensure policy continuity as his core ministers are from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, analysts say

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India’s Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi signs after taking the oath of office for a third term as the country’s prime minister during the oath-taking ceremony in New Delhi. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:00pm, 13 Jun 2024Updated: 12:17pm, 13 Jun 2024

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assembled his core ministers for his third term, as analysts say he has overcome a major hurdle of forming a coalition government by balancing meeting his allies’ expectations and maintaining policy continuity.

Modi has kept his team of Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar – all four ministers from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be part of the powerful Cabinet Committee on Security headed by the prime minister.

The BJP, which fell short of securing a majority in parliament in the recent general election, also secured several other key ministerial positions.

Among them are Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh, a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, and Health Minister J.P. Nadda, who is BJP’s president.

“The BJP has been very effective in terms of negotiations and ensuring the cabinet is a body which would ensure a continuity with the previous regime,” said Sandeep Shastri, director of academics at Nitte Education and national coordinator of Lok Niti Network, which studies elections.

“If you look at the cabinet, 25 out of 30 cabinet ministers belong to the BJP,” he said.