Modi 2.0: Women ministers’ strength down to six

  • Two prominent women cabinet ministers were dropped from the new NDA government
  • The newly elected 17th Lok Sabha has the highest representation of women at 14.3% to make up a total of 78

Srishti Choudhary
Updated31 May 2019, 12:44 AM IST
President Ram Nath Kovind administers oath of office and secrecy to women ministers, from left to right in the top row, Nirmala Sitharaman, Harsimrat Kaur and Smriti Irani; and from left to right in the bottom row, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Renuka Singh Saruta and Debasree Chaudhuri during swearing-in ceremony at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan.
President Ram Nath Kovind administers oath of office and secrecy to women ministers, from left to right in the top row, Nirmala Sitharaman, Harsimrat Kaur and Smriti Irani; and from left to right in the bottom row, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Renuka Singh Saruta and Debasree Chaudhuri during swearing-in ceremony at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan. (PTI )

Six women found a place in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 58-member council of ministers on Thursday, with three of them getting cabinet berths.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Nirmala Sitharaman and Smriti Zubin Irani and Harsimrat Kaur Badal, from ally Shiromani Akali Dal, were inducted as cabinet ministers in the second innings of the Modi-led Union government.

In comparison, there were nine women in Modi’s first government, including six in the cabinet.

One of those cabinet members, former minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj, was missing in action on Thursday after recusing herself from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of 2019 on health grounds. Instead, Swaraj, a seven-time MP and three-time MLA, was seen cheering the newly inducted ministers, sitting in the front row alongside senior party colleagues Sumitra Mahajan and L.K. Advani.

Two prominent women cabinet ministers were dropped from the new NDA government—former women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi and former drinking water and sanitation minister Uma Bharti.

Taking oath as ministers of state were former minister of state for food processing industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Renuka Singh Saruta from Chhattisgarh and Debasree Chaudhuri from West Bengal. Saruta and Chaudhuri are first-time MPs.

Nirmala Sitharaman, two-time Rajya Sabha member and the defence minister in the previous government, was the first woman to take oath as a cabinet minister on Thursday. She is likely to continue as defence minister.

Irani, who won from Amethi, the pocket borough of the Gandhi family, defeating Congress president Rahul Gandhi by over 50,000 votes, was the next to read out her oath of office, amid huge applause from the audience.

Irani held various portfolios in the previous government, including information and broadcasting, human resource development and textiles.

Modi retained Punjab MP Badal following her impressive stint as cabinet minister of food processing industries. She is the daughter-in-law of former five-time Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

The newly elected 17th Lok Sabha has the highest representation of women at 14.3% to make up a total of 78—a marked improvement from the 62 women MPs in 2014. In the 2019 general elections, 716 women candidates contested.

Catch all the Business News, Politics news,Breaking NewsEvents andLatest News Updates on Live Mint. Download TheMint News App to get Daily Market Updates.

MoreLess
First Published:31 May 2019, 12:44 AM IST
Business NewsPoliticsNewsModi 2.0: Women ministers’ strength down to six

Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!

  • Employment Type

    Most Active Stocks

    Tata Steel share price

    149.70
    07:18 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    1.05 (0.71%)

    Indian Oil Corporation share price

    145.00
    07:19 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    2.3 (1.61%)

    Tata Power share price

    445.20
    07:19 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    5.15 (1.17%)

    Bandhan Bank share price

    183.65
    07:10 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    1.4 (0.77%)
    More Active Stocks

    Market Snapshot

    • Top Gainers
    • Top Losers
    • 52 Week High

    Rainbow Childrens Medicare share price

    1,545.00
    06:59 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    -67.25 (-4.17%)

    ICICI Securities share price

    833.45
    06:59 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    -32.85 (-3.79%)

    Vijaya Diagnostic Centre share price

    966.70
    06:59 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    -30.35 (-3.04%)

    Narayana Hrudayalaya share price

    1,235.60
    06:59 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    -36.75 (-2.89%)
    More from Top Losers

    Brigade Enterprises share price

    1,244.80
    07:19 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    71.75 (6.12%)

    PCBL share price

    432.15
    07:17 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    21.35 (5.2%)

    Piramal Pharma share price

    281.85
    07:17 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    13.45 (5.01%)

    Jubilant Pharmova share price

    1,273.00
    06:59 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    60.65 (5%)
    More from Top Gainers

    Recommended For You

      More Recommendations

      Gold Prices

      • 24K
      • 22K
      Bangalore
      80,415.00-150.00
      Chennai
      80,421.00-150.00
      Delhi
      80,573.00-150.00
      Kolkata
      80,425.00-150.00

      Fuel Price

      • Petrol
      • Diesel
      Bangalore
      102.92/L0.00
      Chennai
      100.80/L-0.43
      Kolkata
      104.95/L0.00
      New Delhi
      94.77/L0.00

      Popular in Politics

        HomeMarketsPremiumInstant LoanMint Shorts