Modi to sworn in as 15th Prime Minister of country
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Narendra Modi is all set to take oath as the nation’s 15th Prime Minister on Monday at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Modi, the blue-eyed boy of BJP, led the party to a historic victory in the 16th Lok Sabha elections as the saffron party went on to gain an absolute majority in the Lower House on its own.
In a clear indication that Modi is opting for major changes in the structure of the government, a statement issued by his secretariat here tonight said that ‘focus is on convergence in the activities of various ministries where one cabinet minister will be heading a cluster of ministries which are working in complementary sectors’.
The statement came at the end of another day of guessing game about the names of ministers to figure in the Modi cabinet that will be sworn in at 6 pm on Monday.
Till late Sunday night, even Rashtrapati Bhavan had received no list of ministers from the Prime Minister-designate.
However, indications were that Jaitley would get Finance, Rajnath will be in charge of Home and Gadkari one of the infrastructure ministries.
Geete would also have a Cabinet portfolio.
Other names making the rounds for the cabinet include Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Uma Bharti, Harsh Vardhan and Piyush Goel.
NDA ally TDP has recommended the name of party MP Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who won from Vizianagaram Lok Sabha constituency, to be inducted into the Union Cabinet.
Sources said Shiromani Akali Dal, an old ally of BJP, may find a place in the Union Cabinet and the SAD leadership is learnt to have suggested the names of Harsimrat Badal and Naresh Gujral.
