Nirmala Sitharaman and Annpurna Devi sworn in as cabinet ministers

Nirmala Sitharaman and Annpurna Devi were sworn in as cabinet ministers during a grand ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan last evening. The 72-member council of ministers in Narendra Modi’s third government includes seven women, with two holding cabinet rank. This is four fewer than the previous council of ministers.

Nirmala Sitharaman sworn in as cabinet minister again

Ms. Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha MP, has previously managed major portfolios such as finance and defence. Annpurna Devi, a two-time Koderma MP, has been elevated from her former role as minister of state to a cabinet minister position. In the previous government, she served as the junior minister for education.

The remaining women who were sworn in as ministers yesterday include Anupriya Patel, Raksha Khadse, Savitri Thakur, Shobha Karandlaje, and Nimuben Bambhaniya.

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Anupriya Patel leads the Apna Dal (Sonelal), a BJP ally. She previously served as the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare in the first Narendra Modi government and was appointed as the junior minister for Commerce and Industry in Modi 2.0. However, her party’s Lok Sabha seat tally decreased from two to one in the recent election.

Savitri Thakur, another first-time minister in Modi 3.0

Raksha Khadse, aged thirty-seven, is the daughter-in-law of veteran Maharashtra politician Eknath Khadse. A three-time MP from Raver, Khadse has previously served as a sarpanch and a member of the Zila Parishad.

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Savitri Thakur, another first-time minister in Modi 3.0, represents the Dhar constituency and has won twice as MP. Although she did not secure a poll pass in the 2019 elections, Thakur made a strong comeback in 2024, winning her seat by a margin of over 2 lakh votes. Like Khadse, Thakur also has extensive experience working at the grassroots level.