Many new faces find place in Modi 3.0 govt

New Delhi, June 9 (Bureau) Several new faces, including Ram Mohan Naidu, Jitin Prasada, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chirag Paswan, Manohar Lal Khattar found place in the Modi 3.0 government, that was sworn-in by the President of India Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here on Sunday nearly three-hour long programme. Telugu Desam Party’s Ram Mohan Naidu at 36, will be the youngest minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government. A Lok Sabha MP from Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu’s political career began after the death of his father Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu, who served as a Minister during the HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujaral governments.

The party won 16 Lok Sabha seats. Another young turk is Chirag Paswan of the LJP (Ram Vilas), who took oath as a Cabinet Minister in the new NDA government. With 100 percent strike rate in the just concluded Lok Sabha election, the 42-year-old Dalit leader was sure of a Cabinet berth with the way he charted his journey and announced his loyalty to Modi even when he tore apart JD(U) from NDA in Bihar. BJP’s Jitin Prasada, was also sworn-in as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Modi-led government. The 50-year-old Prasada was a Minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government, before he was made the Lok Sabha candidate from Pilibhit replacing Varun Gandhi. Moreover, four former Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka and Bihar — Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Manohar Lal Khattar, H D Kumaraswamy and Jitan Ram Manjhi respectively were also inducted into the NDA Government. JDU leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh took oath as a Cabinet Minister as well. Besides, Telangana BJP leader Bandi Sanjay Kumar and West Bengal’s Sukant Majumdar also found ministerial berths in the Modi 3.0 government.