Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi is set to press on continuity in his new term by retaining key figures from his outgoing government in the Council of Ministers to be sworn in on Sunday evening.
According to sources familiar with the development, prominent leaders such as Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, and S. Jaishankar, who managed the Home, Defence, Finance, and External Affairs ministries respectively, will continue in their roles.
Other senior members like Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Hardeep Singh Puri are also slated to be part of the new government.
Over 65 ministers are likely to take the oath, based on visuals from Modi's meeting with his prospective council.
Notably absent is Anurag Thakur, the outgoing Information and Broadcasting Minister who secured a win from Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur constituency.
Thakur was not among the leaders invited to meet Modi, a customary step before the swearing-in ceremony.
Outgoing ministers Smriti Irani, who faced a significant defeat in Amethi, and Parshottam Rupala, who won but sparked controversy with remarks about the Rajput community, are also expected to be excluded from the new government. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who lost to Shashi Tharoor in a close contest, is similarly not expected to return.
However, the majority of outgoing ministers are set to continue, according to official sources.
New faces from the BJP include Manohar Lal Khattar, C. R. Paatil, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and Ravneet Singh Bittu.
Additionally, BJP allies are introducing fresh faces such as TDP’s Ram Mohan Naidu and Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, JD(U)’s Lalan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur, Shiv Sena’s Prataprao Jadhav, and other National Democratic Alliance members like Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, H. D. Kumaraswamy, Jayant Chaudhary, Ramdas Athawale, and Anupriya Patel.
BJP’s Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bhupender Yadav, Pralhad Joshi, Giriraj Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Jitendra Singh, S. P. S. Baghel, Annapurna Devi, Virendra Kumar, Pankaj Chaudhary, Shobha Karandlaje, Krishna Pal Gurjar, and L. Murugan, all outgoing ministers, will also be taking the oath.
G. Kishan Reddy, Sukanta Majumdar, Rao Inderjit Singh, Nityanand Rai, and Bhagirath Choudhary are expected to be part of the new government.
BJP MPs Jitin Prasada from Uttar Pradesh and Raksha Khadse from Maharashtra have also received calls to join the government. There is speculation that BJP national president J. P. Nadda, whose extended tenure ends this month, may also be included.
Ravneet Singh Bittu, grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, is likely to be inducted despite losing the Lok Sabha election, as the BJP aims to strengthen its presence in Punjab. BJP MP from Ranchi Sanjay Seth and Odisha MP Jual Oram are also expected to take the oath.
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