Seven Women Ministers in Modi Government's New Council

New Delhi 11 June ( VNI)The third Narendra Modi government, consisting of a 72-member council of ministers, includes seven women, with two holding cabinet positions. This number is four fewer than the previous council. Nirmala Sitharaman and Annpurna Devi were appointed as cabinet ministers during the grand ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday evening.

Nirmala Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha MP, has previously managed key portfolios such as finance and defense. Annpurna Devi, representing Koderma as an MP for the second time, has been elevated from her previous role as minister of state to cabinet minister. She served as the junior education minister in the previous government.

The other female ministers are Anupriya Patel, Raksha Khadse, Savitri Thakur, Shobha Karandlaje, and Nimuben Bhambaniya.

Anupriya Patel leads Apna Dal (Sonelal), an ally of the BJP. She served as the minister of state for health and family welfare in the first Modi government and was the junior minister for commerce and industry in the second. Her party's seats in the Lok Sabha decreased from two to one in this election.

Raksha Khadse, 37, is the daughter-in-law of Maharashtra politician Eknath Khadse. She is a three-time MP from Raver and has experience as a sarpanch and a Zila Parishad member.

Savitri Thakur, a two-time MP from Dhar, is a first-time minister in the third Modi government. Although she did not contest the 2019 election, she made a strong comeback in 2024, winning her seat by over 200,000 votes. She has significant experience working at the panchayat level.

Shobha Karandlaje, a two-time BJP MP from Karnataka, has previously served as a state minister and has been retained in the current government. She has managed portfolios in food processing industries and agriculture and farmers' welfare in the Union government.

Nimuben Bhambaniya, 57, represents Bhavnagar as an MP. A former teacher, she has served as Bhavnagar's mayor and has held various organizational roles within the BJP.