Modi 2.0 Cabinet: New govt has 51 crorepati ministers; 16 with serious criminal cases

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new Cabinet, which comprises of 58 ministers has a total of 51 crorepatis. According to the details mentioned in the self-sworn affidavits of all these ministers, excluding Ramvilas Paswan and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, total 22 ministers have declared criminal cases against them, says a report by an NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The details of Ramvilas Paswan and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar were not analyzed as they are not currently members of either House. Among total 16 ministers who have said there are "serious criminal cases" registered against them, BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra, V Muraleedharan, who is now MoS in the Ministry of External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, has declared an attempt to murder case against himself.

While the average assets of all the ministers account for Rs 14.12 crore, four ministers have declared more than Rs 40 crore worth of assets. SAD MP and Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal is the richest minister with assets worth Rs 217 crore. Goyal Piyush Vedprakash, BJP Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra, is the second richest minister in Modi's new Cabinet with assets worth Rs 95 crore. Rao Inderjit Singh, BJP MP from Haryana, is the third richest candidate with total assets worth Rs 42 crore while Home Minister Amit Shah is the fourth richest minister with assets worth Rs 40 crore.

Nirmala Sitharaman is new Finance Minister: Dalal Street hails appointment, expects her to revive the economy

Six ministers -- Amit Shah, Giriraj Singh, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Babul Supriyo, Nityanand Rai, and Prahlad Joshi -- have declared cases related to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony (IPC Section-153A) and deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs (IPC Section-295A), said the report. Besides, three ministers, including Nitin Gadkari, Giriraj Singh, and Ashwini Kumar Choubey, have declared cases related to illegal payments in connection with an election, bribery and undue influence at an election.

India Inc on the agenda for the new government

Of the total 56 members analyzed, two candidates are just Class 10 pass, while six are those with Class 12 certificate. Total 16 are graduate, while 15 have done post-graduation. There's only one candidate with a doctorate degree. Total 11 (20 percent) ministers have declared their age to be between 41 to 50 years while 45 (80 percent) ministers have declared their age to be between 51 to 70 years. There are six (11%) women ministers in the new Modi government.

Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister for a second term on Thursday. In his new Council of Ministers, Amit Shah was appointed as the new Home Minister, while Rajnath Singh has been given the charge of the crucial defence ministry. Nirmala Sitharaman was appointed the new Finance Minister after Arun Jaitley opted out due to health concerns.

Edited by Manoj Sharma

Modi govt assigns plum portfolios to many first-timers to use fresh thinking on key issues