Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was sworn in at the helm of a coalition government, is holding his first cabinet meeting at his residence in Delhi. The primary agenda is advising the President to formulate the 18th Lok Sabha.
In a significant first decision, the Cabinet has cleared plans to build three crore houses for the rural and urban poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. This morning, PM Modi signed his first file, authorizing the release of around Rs 20,000 crore to about 9.3 crore farmers. Meanwhile, all eyes are on the long-awaited allocation of ministerial portfolios.
Last evening at Rashtrapati Bhavan, thirty cabinet ministers, both new and returning, took the oath of office. Additionally, five Ministers of State with Independent charge and 36 junior ministers were sworn in.
The cabinet meeting is taking place amid murmurs of dissatisfaction from coalition allies, including Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JD(U)).
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The Shiv Sena is pushing for more cabinet berths, having been allocated only one so far. Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar’s NCP, which secured only one seat, is unhappy with the BJP’s offer of a junior minister position with Independent charge. The candidate for this role is Praful Patel, a former cabinet minister in the Manmohan Singh government. The NCP argues that anything less than a cabinet berth would be a demotion for Patel.
Both TDP and JD(U) are vying for the position of Lok Sabha Speaker, a crucial role in a coalition government.
This initial cabinet meeting and the decisions taken therein set the tone for PM Modi’s third term, amidst the backdrop of coalition negotiations and the implementation of key welfare programs.
