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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allocated portfolios to his Union Cabinet ministers, with key ministries being assigned to senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Amit Shah, a close aide of Modi, has been given the Home Affairs portfolio, while Rajnath Singh will continue to head the Defence Ministry. S Jaishankar, a former diplomat, will take over as External Affairs Minister, and Nitin Gadkari will remain in charge of the Road Transport Ministry.
Nirmala Sitharaman, who held the Defence portfolio in the previous NDA government, has been shifted to the Finance Ministry. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a former four-time chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, has been appointed as Union Agriculture Minister, while BJP president JP Nadda will be the new Union Health Minister.
The BJP had to rely on its NDA allies to form the government after securing 240 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, way less than was projected by exit polls.
In the week after the election, speculation speculation was rife that the TDP, with 16 seats and the JD(U) with 12 would get crucial cabinet posts in return for supporting the government.
The NDA has 293 seats in the Lok Sabha, while the Opposition INDIA alliance has 234 seats.
Among the allies, TDP's K Ram Mohan Naidu has become the Union Civil Aviation minister, while JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh aka Lalan Singh has become the Minister for Panchayati Raj.
The Union cabinet in the Narendra Modi government has 30 ministers. In addition, the Union council of ministers has 5 Ministers of state with independent charge and 36 Ministers of state.
According to an official press release, Prime minister Narendra Modi will be also in-charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space, all important policy issues and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister.