BJP-led Centre constitutes 8 Cabinet committees; allies find space too

Composition of Cabinet Committee on Security remains unchanged

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on Wednesday constituted eight cabinet committees, including the country's highest decision-making bodies on security and economic affairs. It inducted Union ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s alliance partners, such as the Janata Dal United (JDU), Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and others, into key committees.

The government also renamed the Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development. According to a notification issued on Wednesday evening by the Cabinet Secretariat, it is now called the Cabinet Committee on Skill, Employment, and Livelihood.

In the cabinet committees constituted on June 5, 2019, after the Narendra Modi government returned to power, three of the BJP's allies had found representation. Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Shiromani Akali Dal), Ram Vilas Paswan (Lok Janshakti Party) and Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena) were members. By the end of the government's tenure, the allies had no representation in any of the cabinet committees. While Paswan had passed away, the other two had parted ways with the BJP by then.

 

According to Wednesday's notification, the Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by the Prime Minister, remains unchanged from the previous government since Union ministers holding Defence, Home, Finance and External Affairs portfolios are unchanged.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) now has 11 members. According to the Cabinet Secretariat notification dated June 6, 2019, the CCEA in the beginning of the previous government’s tenure comprised a dozen members. By the end of its tenure, according to the notification dated December 8, 2023, it consisted of eight members.

Prominent additions to the CCEA are Union ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, HD Kumaraswamy (Janata Dal-Secular) and Rajeev Ranjan Singh (JDU). Five years back, Narendra Singh Tomar, who held the portfolios of Agriculture, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, was part of the committee. In the new Cabinet Chouhan and Rajiv Ranjan Singh hold these portfolios.

The minister of heavy industries was not part of the CCEA in June 2019, but Kumaraswamy, who holds the portfolio in the current government, is a CCEA member now. Other ministries missing from the CCEA, if compared with its composition in June 2019, are Chemicals and Fertilizers (held by DV Sadanand Gowda then), Law and Justice, Communications, Electronics and IT (held by Ravi Shankar Prasad) and Food Processing Industries (held by Harsimrat Kaur Badal).

Apart from the three additions to the CCEA, the committee’s composition remains unchanged in terms of individuals who comprised it by the end of the previous government’s tenure. They are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan.

The additions to the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which Rajnath Singh heads, are JP Nadda, Jual Oram, CR Patil (all BJP), Rajiv Ranjan Singh (JDU) and K Rammohan Naidu (TDP). Nadda succeeded Goyal as the leader of the House in Rajya Sabha. Goyal was a member of the committee in the previous government, but not in the newly constituted one.

Union ministers Naidu and Jitan Ram Manjhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) have been added to the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, which the PM heads. Its other members remain unchanged from the previous government.

Chirag Paswan (LJP-RV), Pralhad Joshi, Giriraj Singh and Hardeep Singh Puri (all three BJP) are the additions to the Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth. Rao Inderjit Singh of the BJP and Prataprao Jadhav of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena are the special invitees. Other members, including Rajnath Singh, Shah, Goyal and Sitharaman, continue from the previous committee.

The additions to the Cabinet Committee on Skill, Employment and Livelihood are Union ministers Gajendra Shekhawat and Mansukh Mandaviya, with Jayant Chaudhary (Rashtriya Lok Dal) as the special invitee. In this committee in the previous government, Nitin Gadkari was a special invitee, but he is now a member of the committee.

 

CCEA composition (on June 5, 2019)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Road Transport and Highways & MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari, Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister DV Sadanand Gowda, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Law and Justice, Communications and MEITY Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Railways, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

CCEA composition (on December 8, 2023)

Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal (Minister of Commerce and Industry; Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Textiles) and Dharmendra Pradhan (Minister of Education; Skill Development and Entrepreneurship).

CCEA composition (on July 3, 2024)

Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar, Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; and Rural Development), HD Kumaraswamy (Minister of Heavy lndustries and Steel), Piyush Goyal (Minister of Commerce and lndustry), Dharmendra Pradhan (Minister of Education) and Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh (Minister of Panchayati Raj; and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying).