Modi's cabinet is again dominated by caste Hindus
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Photo: Collected
Narendra Modi has been sworn in as the Prime Minister of India for the third time in a row. As last time too, caste Hindus have dominated Modi's cabinet. This time 72 people have taken oath as ministers. Among them, 10 people from Dalits and 5 people from other religions have taken oath. Among them 2 are Sikhs, 2 are Buddhists and one is a Christian.
The swearing-in ceremony began at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi shortly after 7:15 PM local time on Sunday (June 9). However, Narendra Modi and others arrived at the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises before the scheduled time.
Presidents or heads of government of seven countries were also present there. Apart from this, eight thousand domestic and foreign guests participated in the swearing-in ceremony.
President Daupadi Murmu administered the oath to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After that a total of 71 people including ministers, independent ministers and state ministers took oath one by one. Among them, 30 people took oath as ministers, 36 people took oath as state ministers, and 5 others took oath as independent ministers.
Among them there are 7 women, 5 other minorities. But not one of them is a Muslim.
Among the oath-takers are 10 Dalits, 27 Backward Hindus, 5 from various religious minority groups and 5 from tribals. 21 are upper caste Hindus.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA coalition partner BJP nominated Abdus Salam, a Muslim from Mallapuram, Kerala. But he could not be victorious. Besides, Nitish Kumar's JD (U) party in Bihar nominated an Islamic candidate in Kishanganj. He too was defeated.
It is known that 24 states are represented in Modi's cabinet this time in terms of caste. Out of these, 27 belong to Backward Classes, 5 belong to Scheduled Tribes and 10 belong to Scheduled Tribes and 21 represent Caste Hindus.
There were 57 ministers in the 2019 NDA cabinet. Among them, there were 32 upper caste ministers. There were 13 Ministers from Backward (OBC) groups, 6 Ministers from Other Backward Tribes.
Then in 2021 the size of the cabinet was increased. In this, participation from backward Hindus increased to 27 people. 12 from Scheduled Tribes and 8 from Other Backward Tribes. Also, 30 people from caste Hindus became ministers.
In the 2019 cabinet, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, elected from the BJP, became the minister of the ministry of minority affairs. His reign ended in 2022. He was then succeeded by Smriti Irani.
This time, a total of 5 religious minorities have taken oath as ministers. They are - Hardeep Singh Puri, Ravneet Singh Bittu, George Kurian, Kiren Rajju and Ramdas Athawale.
Of these, Puri and Athavale are members of the Raj Sabha. Rajju won from Arunachal Pradesh and Bittu contested from Punjab and failed to win.