New Delhi: Five MPs from Karnataka are likely to take the oath of office alongside Narendra Modi today, said sources. Dharwad MP Pralhad Joshi, Mandya MP and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, and Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka Nirmala Sitharaman are expected to be sworn in as Cabinet ministers. Meanwhile, Bengaluru North MP Shobha Karandlaje and Tumakuru MP V Somanna are likely to take the oath as Ministers of State, sources said.
Senior leaders such as Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, and Amit Shah are expected to feature in the next cabinet of the NDA government. Sources also suggest that Rajnath Singh is likely to continue as Defence Minister.
At 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi met with his probable Cabinet ministers and newly-elected MPs for a tea meeting just hours before his oath-taking ceremony scheduled for 7:15 pm at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Insiders report that more than a dozen BJP MPs and an equal number from allied parties have been included in the list for the council of ministers. However, it has been confirmed that Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena will not participate in the NDA government.
The BJP is expected to introduce new faces into the Cabinet, as around 20 former ministers were defeated in the recent Lok Sabha elections, and there are no upcoming vacancies in the Rajya Sabha. Reports suggest that 10 ministers from the previous cabinet will retain their positions. Prominent figures such as Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal, Hardeep Singh Puri, and Ashwini Vaishnaw are set to continue their roles as union ministers, while Anurag Thakur has been excluded from the new lineup.