NDA government 3.0: Nirmala Sitharaman, Raksha Khadse among women ministers in Modi Cabinet 3.0. Details here

Narendra Modi, along with 72 ministers, took oath on Sunday evening in a mega event at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Of those who took oath with Prime Minister Modi, 30 are Cabinet Ministers, 5 are Ministers of State with Independent Charge and 36 Ministers of States. 

Seven women have been inducted into the new Council of Ministers. Of the seven women ministers who took oath on Sunday, two have been inducted into the Union Cabinet. Others have been sworn in as ministers of state. 

List of women ministers who took oath on Sunday

1. Nirmala Sitharaman: The two-time Union minister and Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka has been included in the Modi Cabinet 3.0. In Modi 2.0, Sitharaman was the Union Finance Minister and has often been credited with carrying forward economic reforms such as cut in base corporate tax to 22 per cent, implementation of GST and COVID-related reforms. 

2. Annpurna Devi: A prominent OBC leader from Jharkhand, Annpurna Devi took oath as the Cabinet Minister in Modi government 3.0. In the previous term, she served as the Minister of State for Education. She won the Lok Sabha elections for the second consecutive term from Koderma. She defeated CPI(ML)'s Vinod Kumar Singh by a margin of over 3.77 lakh votes. 

3. Raksha Khadse: The BJP's face of resilience in North Maharashtra took oath as the minister of state in the NDA's Council of Ministers on Sunday. Khadse won from Maharashtra's Raver Lok Sabha constituency for a third time with a margin of roughly 3 lakh votes.

She is the daughter-in-law of NCP(SP) leader Eknath Khadse, who has decided to switch back to the BJP. Her husband Nikhil Khadse died due to suicide in 2013. 

She is passionate about causes like women empowerment, child education and farmers' welfare. Her other priorities include addressing water shortages in the Jalgaon region and improving road connectivity. 

4. Shobha Karandlaje: BJP MP from Bengaluru North, Karandlaje took oath on Sunday as the minister of state. She is considered a close confidante of former Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa. She was also the Minister of Rural Development in the Government of Karnataka from 2008-09 and Minister of Food and Civil Supplies from 2010-12. 

In a fierce contest with Congress' Rajeev Gowda, Karandlaje won from the Bengaluru North Lok Sabha seat with a margin of over 2.59 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha polls 2024. 

5. Anupriya Patel: The Apna Dal (Soneylal) president, who won from Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur with over 4.71 lakh votes, was sworn in as the minster of state on Sunday. Patel has served as the Union Minister of State for Commerce & Industry since 2021. From 2016-19, she served as the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare.

6. Savitri Thakur: The 46-year-old tribal leader from Madhya Pradesh's Dhar Lok Sabha constituency, was sworn in as the minister of state in the Narendra Modi-led government. Fondly called 'Didi', she defeated Congress' Radheshyam Muvel by a margin of over 2.18 lakh votes. 

7. Nimuben Bhambhaniya: The former Bhavnagar mayor was sworn in as minister of state on Sunday. Nimuben Bhambhaniya was one of the three women candidates of the BJP to win the Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat. She defeated AAP's Umesh Makwana by a massive margin of 4.55 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha elections. 

Hailing from the OBC community, she served as the mayor of Bhavnagar for two terms-- 2009-10 and 2015-18. She was also the vice president of the BJP Mahila Morcha's state unit from 2013-21. 

Women ministers in Modi Cabinet 2.0

The previous Council, dissolved on June 5, had 10 women ministers. The women ministers who have been dropped include Smriti Irani, Bharti Pawar, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Darshana Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi and Pratima Bhoumik. 

Irani and Pawar lost from their respective seats-- Amethi and Dindori. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Darshana Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi and Pratima Bhoumik were not fielded by the BJP.