Nirmala Sitharaman among 7 women part of new council of ministers; Irani, Lekhi dropped

Seven women, including two in the Cabinet role, have been inducted into the new council of ministers in the 18th Lok Sabha. There were 10 women ministers in previous council of ministers, which dissolved on June 5.

Those who were dropped include former Union Minister Smriti Irani, Minister of State Dr Bharti Pawar, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Darshana Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi, and Pratima Bhoumik.

The new ministers inducted into the council of ministers are former Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP MPs Annpurna Devi, Shobha Karandlaje, Raksha Khadse, Savitri Thakur, Nimuben Bambhaniya, and Apna Dal MP Anupriya Patel.

Sitharaman and Devi have been inducted in the Cabinet while the rest have been sworn in as ministers of state.

While Irani and Pawar lost their incumbent seat at Amethi and Dandori, respectively, Jyoti, Jardosh, Lekhi, and Bhoumik were dropped by the BJP and were not fielded.

Devi, Karandlaje, Khadse, Sehrawat, and Patel, who have won the recent polls, have been inducted in the new council of ministers.

A total of 74 women have won the Lok Sabha elections this year, a slight decrease from the 78 elected in 2019.

Narendra Modi, along with his 71 council of ministers, took the oath on Sunday as the new coalition government was formed after two full tenures in which the BJP enjoyed a majority on its own.

Modi's first term in 2014 saw eight ministers while in the second term six women ministers were sworn in and by the time the 17th Lok Sabha dissolved there were 10 women ministers.