TN BJP chief to be made Minister of State

TAMIL Nadu BJP President Annamalai will be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers as Minister of State on Sunday, according to BJP sources.

Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi is set to take oath for a third consecutive term on Sunday, and speculations are mounting about leaders who will likely take oath as members of the Council of Ministers today at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

After Anamalai is inducted into the Council of Ministers, the Tamil Nadu BJP president post will likely be assigned to someone else.

The 39-year-old former IPS officer Annamalai lost the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 from the Coimbatore constituency to rival Ganapathy Rajkumar of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Annamalai joined the BJP in 2019 and became the president of the party's Tamil Nadu unit in 2021.

Nearly 30 ministers are likely to take oath as members of Narendra Modi's council of ministers. According to an NDTV report, close to 30 ministers from the whole council of 78-81 ministers are likely to take oath on Sunday. 

Ministers holding key portfolios, including coal, defence, civil aviation, external affairs, finance, home ministry, etc, will take oath today.

As Narendra Modi is set to head a coalition government this time, there is a chance that more leaders from Janata Dal United and Telugu Desam Party will be named on the council. However, critical portfolios like coal, civil aviation, defence, external affairs, finance, home, and steel are likely to be retained by the saffron party.

PM Modi oath-taking ceremony 

After being unanimously selected as the leader of NDA, Narendra Modi is set to take oath as the Prime Minister for third consecutive term on Sunday, June 9. PM's oath taking ceremony will be attended by national and international dignitaries of neighbouring nations including, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Security of the national capital has been increased in the wake of the oath taking ceremony. The Delhi-NCT region has been declared no-fly zone for Sunday.

Leaders likely to be in Modi 3.0 

According to media reports, multiple leaders of JDS and JDU are likely to be added in the Council of Ministers.

Janata Dal United (JDU) leaders Lalan Singh, Sanjay Kumar Jha, Ram Nath Thakur, Sunil Kumar and Kaushalendra Kumar are likely to hold ministerial positions in the council, according to News 18.

BJP's senior leaders Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari are likely to hold senior portfolios in the cabinet. According to a Hindustan Times report, the TDP is eyeing at five cabinet berths for party leaders and two for its Jana Sena ally.