Southern representation in Modi 3.0 govt: 13 ministers take oath

Bengaluru: More than a dozen parliamentarians from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu were inducted on Sunday in the Council of Ministers led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, rewarding the BJP’s coalition partners in the southern states.

JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, BJP leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous Cabinet, were among those who took oath here at a grand ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Union Minister of State in the previous Modi government, Shobha Karandlaje, and former minister in the state government V Somanna — both from BJP — were also sworn in.

While Sitharaman, Kumaraswamy and Joshi were given Cabinet rank, Karandlaje and Somanna were made Ministers of State. Kumaraswamy, who has been given a minister post from NDA partner JD(S)’ quota, is from the dominant Vokkaliga community.

The NDA got 19 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, with BJP winning 17 and JD(S) in 2. The ruling Congress in the state has won nine seats.

Two TDP MPs — K Rammohan Naidu and Chandrasekhar Pemmasani — along with BJP’s Srinivasa Varma were inducted from Andhra Pradesh. Pemmasani with an asset of Rs 5700 crore is the richest minister to join the council of ministers in the 18th Lok Sabha.

From Kerala, Suresh Gopi, the lone BJP Lok Sabha MP in the state, and senior party leader George Kurian became ministers for the first time. Kurian’s inclusion despite not being an MP is seen as the BJP’s attempt to reach out to the Christian community.

BJP leaders from Telangana — Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar — were also included in the Modi 3.0 government.

From Tamil Nadu, L Murugan was included as Minister of State in the new government.