As the clock ticks down to Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony as Prime Minister, BJP leaders Smriti Irani and Anurag Thakur found themselves notably absent from the finalized Cabinet lineup.
Most of the senior party leaders like Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Nirmala Sitharaman and Mansukh Mandaviya are being seen met Modi over tea, a custom he has followed before the Cabinet formation exercise since 2014.
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“All MPs, who will take the oath of office along with Narendra Modi have been invited to Modi’s residence for tea at 11:30 am,” according to BJP sources.
It was worth noting that Smriti Irani and Anurag Singh Thakur were not invited to the tea party at Modi’s residence.
“Both (Smriti Irani and Anurag Singh Thakur) were not present in the NDA meeting. Irani lost, but Thakur won from Hamirpur. This is the first cabinet swearing-in, though. We will have more ministers inducted in the Modi 3.0,” said BJP sources.
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Irani’s electoral loss in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, particularly in the Hindi heartland Amethi constituency, who clinched the Amethi Lok Sabha seat after defeating Rahul Gandhi in 2019 by a margin of over 55,000 votes, lost to Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma with a margin of 1,67,196 votes.
Moreover, Anurag Thakur clinched his fifth consecutive term from Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur constituency, securing victory over Congress’ Satpal Raizada by a significant margin of 1,82,357 votes.
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Senior party leaders like Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Nirmala Sitharaman and Mansukh Mandaviya are being seen as a certainty in the new government, sources told PTI.
A source said Sitharaman, the outgoing finance minister, Sarbananda Sonowal and Kiren Rijiju, both outgoing ministers as well, will also be taking oath.
The counting of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was held on Tuesday. According to the Election Commission of India, the Samajwadi Party (SP) won 37 seats, the BJP won 33, the Congress won 6, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) won 2, and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) and Apna Dal (Soneylal) won 1 seat each in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Published: 09 Jun 2024, 02:28 PM IST