Modi introduces council of ministers in Lok Sabha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday introduced his council of ministers in the Lok Sabha.

Beginning with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the prime minister introduced all the ministers one by one in Hindi.

The only minister who was not present was Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal.

Unaware of Goyal's absence, Modi announced his name and went on to list his portfolios before being told by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj that he was not present.

To this, the prime minister said: "I will introduce him next time."

Apart from Rajnath Singh, those introduced included Sushma Swaraj; Finance, Corporate Affairs and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley; Parliamentary Affairs, Urban Development, Housing and Poverty Alleviation Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and Surface Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Among the ministers from BJP's allies parties were Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP); Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Anant Geete (Shiv Sena); Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal (SAD), and Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju (TDP).

There are 44 members in the union council of ministers.