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Centre reconstitutes 8 Cabinet panels, NDA partners find place in key bodies
The crucial Cabinet Committee on Security, which includes PM Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, remains unchanged.
The Union government reconstituted eight Cabinet committees on Wednesday, making room for members from NDA allies in the all-important Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), according to a notification on Wednesday.
To be sure, the crucial Cabinet Committee on Security, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh, home minister Amit Shah, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and external affairs minister S Jaishankar, remains unchanged. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet, or ACC, was also unchanged with Prime Minister Modi and home minister Shah its only members.
In CCEA, minister of heavy industries and steel HD Kumaraswamy from the Janata Dal (Secular) and Panchayati Raj and animal husbandry minister Lalan Singh of the Janata Dal (United) were added as members in the first reconstitution of key panel after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The last Bharatiya Janata Party ally to be in this committee was Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal in August 2020.
The Cabinet panels are reconstituted from time to time to include changes in portfolios or exclusion or inclusion of new ministers. The previous reconstitution was done on December 8, 2023.
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CCEA is the highest executive body that takes decisions related to industrial policies, finalises big-ticket investment proposals and major infrastructure projects such as dams or power plants, and looks at other key economic issues.
Headed by PM Modi, the economic affairs panel also includes Rajnath, Shah, transport minister Nitin Gadkari, agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Sitharaman, Jaishankar, commerce & industry ministry Piyush Goyal, and education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The Prime Minister-led CCPA, which takes key political calls of the government, also included two allies, MSME minister Jitin Ram Majhi of HAM and civil aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party. The last time this panel had two members from alliance partners was when it was reconstituted on August 18, 2020.
The other members of this panel are Rajnath, Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman, health minister JP Nadda, Goyal, shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal, environment minister Bhupender Yadav, WCD minister Annpurna Devi, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, and coal minister G Kishan Reddy.
Three ministers — Pralhad Joshi, Mansukh Mandaviya and Giriraj Singh — were shifted from this panel after their portfolios changed. Smriti Irani, who was a part of this panel in the previous NDA government, is no longer a minister after she lost in the 2024 elections.
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The inclusion of allies in key bodies reflects the stronger position of the allies in the third term of the Modi government in which the BJP has 240 seats and the allies have 53 Lok Sabha berths. A senior government functionary pointed out that in the last few years of the previous NDA government, there was no reshuffle to include new allies even as old allies such as Akalis and the Shiv Sena (UBT) left the ruling alliance.
The Cabinet Committee on Accommodation, which allots residential bungalows to the ministers, has one change. Urban affairs minister Manohar Lal has replaced Hardeep Singh Puri, who handles the petroleum ministry.
Nadda, Lalan Singh, Naidu, tribal affairs minister Jual Oram and Jal Shakti minister CR Patil have been included the parliamentary affairs committee led by Rajnath Singh. The panel’s strength has been increased from nine to 10 members, with Anurag Thakur, Arjun Munda, Pralhad Joshi and Piyush Goyal shifted out of the panel that decides the schedule of Parliament sessions and their legislative agenda.
The Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth has also been expanded to include 11 members from eight in the past, with Pralhad Joshi, Giriraj Singh, Hardeep Puri and LJP leader Chirag Paswan (food processing minister) as its new members. Former Union minister Narayan Rane is no longer in the panel. Other notable members of this panel are IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Gadkari is no longer part of the Cabinet Committee on Skill, Employment and Livelihood while tourism minister Gajendra Shekhawat has been added to the panel. NDA ally Jayant Chaudhary, MoS (independent charge) skill development, of the Rashtriya Lok Dal is a special invitee to this committee.
