In Team NDA 3.0, continuity reigns supreme as several top ministers retain their previous portfolios, indicating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trust in their abilities to drive the government policies and programs. Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar, and Nitin Gadkari have returned to Home Affairs, Defense, Finance, External Affairs, and Road Transport and Highways respectively.
This approach, however, leaves little room for major coalition partners like Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) to assert themselves in bagging plum ministries. Both the kingmakers find themselves without the coveted cabinet roles they sought. Speculation also suggests that BJP may even retain the Lok Sabha Speaker’s position rather than acceding to TDP’s reported demands.
TDP’s Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu has been assigned the role of Civil Aviation Minister, while C Pemmasani, the wealthiest candidate under the Modi Government, takes on the responsibilities of Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications.
JD(U) MP Lallan Singh has been given the Panchayati Raj Ministry alongside Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying. Ram Nath Thakur, another JD(U) leader, will serve as the Minister of State for Agriculture.
Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s Prataprao Jadhav has been made the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Ayush, alongside Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Shinde Sena, which has won seven Lok Sabha seats from Maharashtra, is upset as it expected a cabinet post. Shiv Sena is an old ally of the BJP.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), under Ajit Pawar, a BJP ally, declined the Minister of State position with independent charge referring to it as a “demotion” as their party leader Praful Patel has been a cabinet minister.
Jayant Chaudhary of RLD will take charge as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship along with Minister of State in the Ministry of Education.
Chirag Paswan, leader of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) which won all five seats it contested, has been appointed as the Minister of Food Processing Industries.
HD Kumaraswamy, former Karnataka CM and Janata Dal (Secular) leader, will be in charge of the Ministries of Steel and Heavy Industries.
Meanwhile, former Bihar CM and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi has got the Ministry of MSME.
Amid widespread demands, the BJP leadership had reportedly urged NDA partners to moderate their requests to reasonable levels, promising to consider unmet aspirations in due course.
By retaining key portfolios such as Defence, External Affairs, Home Affairs, and Finance, and repeating BJP heavyweights who previously held these positions, the party aims to project stability within the new coalition government. Despite securing 240 seats this time, the maximum by any party, the BJP fell short of crossing the majority mark of 272, necessitating its dependence on allies.
The BJP’s decision to retain key portfolios also minimises potential conflicts and disagreements among NDA members regarding policies on foreign affairs, internal security, economic issues and defence, while also sending out a clear message: it maintains control and is in charge of the third NDA government.
