First pictures of PM Modi's meeting with Council of Ministers out ahead of oath ceremony

Ahead of the oath-taking ceremony, Prime Minister Narendra on Wednesday chaired a meeting at 7 Lok Manya Tilak in New Delhi with the leaders who are likely to be inducted. Republic Media Network has accessed the pictures of the meeting that also had in attendance Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party President Jagat Prakash Nadda.

Probable names like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Pashupati Paras, Sarabanda Sonowal, Hardeep Singh Puri can also be seen attending the meeting among others. 

A total of 43 Ministers in the PM Modi-led Council of Ministers will be sworn in at 6 pm on Wednesday at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, sources told Republic TV. Meanwhile, Union Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Gangwar, Union Education Minister Ramesh Nishank Pokhriyal, Union Social Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan have dropped their posts. Union MoS for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo, MoS Jal Shakti and Social Justice & Empowerment Ratan Lal Kataria and MoS Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Pratap Sarangi have also been dropped from the Cabinet.  

While the current strength of the Union Council of Ministers is 53 besides PM Modi, only 27 more Ministers can be inducted. Most importantly, sources indicated that the new Council of Ministers will give more representation in terms of caste, religion, region and experience than several other governments in the past. As per sources, 11 women Ministers (2 in Cabinet), 27 OBCs (5 in cabinet), 8 STs (3 in Cabinet), and 12 SC members (2 in cabinet) will also be a part of the reshuffle. Moreover, 13 lawyers, 6 doctors, 5 engineers, 7 civil servants, and 4 former CMs will be a part of the new council of Ministers. Representations from the Muslim, Sikh and Christian community has also been broadened in the new cabinet. 

Here are the Ministers likely to be sworn in:

1. Sarbananda Sonowal (BJP)- Former Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs (2014-2016), ex-Assam CM and MLA

2. Narayan Rane (BJP)- Former Maharashtra CM and Rajya Sabha MP 

3. Vinod Sonkar (BJP)- Lok Sabha MP from Kaushambi

4. Heena Gavit (BJP)- Lok Sabha MP from Nandurbar

5. Pritam Munde (BJP)- Lok Sabha MP from Beed

6. Anupriya Patel [Apna Dal(S)]- Lok Sabha MP from Mirzapur

7. Nisith Pramanik (BJP)- Lok Sabha MP from Cooch Behar

8. Ajay Bhatt (BJP)- Lok Sabha MP from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar

9. Shobha Karandlaje (BJP)- Lok Sabha MP from Udupi Chikmagalur

10. Shantanu Thakur (BJP)- Lok Sabha MP from Bangaon 

11. Pashupati Kumar Paras (LJP)- Lok Sabha MP from Hajipur

12. Sunita Duggal (BJP)- Lok Sabha MP from Sirsa

13. RCP Singh [JD(U)]- Rajya Sabha MP

14. Ashwini Vaishnav (BJP)- Rajya Sabha MP

15. Meenakshi Lekhi (BJP)- Lok Sabha MP from New Delhi

17. Bhagwat Karad (BJP)- Rajya Sabha MP

18. Rajeev Chandrasekhar (BJP)- Rajya Sabha MP

19. Jyotiraditya Scindia (BJP)- Rajya Sabha MP