I, Narendra Modi, All The Way This Govt Bears The PM’s Stamp Like Few Have Before. It’s Compact & Has Mostly His People

New Delhi: Narendra Modi kept his date with destiny on Monday when he was sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India. He leads a team of 45 ministers — 23 of them in the Cabinet — which is distinctly leaner than the outgoing UPA ministry. It's a team that bears his personal stamp, with many ministers owing him their position, and reflects his resolve to form his ministry without being encumbered by reputations or stature. 

    Armed with the Sangh Parivar's decision to bench those above 75, Modi has kept out both L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, something that didn't seem possible to many. At the same time, he hasn't heeded the claims of Arun Shourie or Subramaniam Swamy, who were speculated by media (not TOI) to be sure-shot ministers. Nor has he brought in technocrats into his team – not yet, at least. 
    As reported by TOIon May 17, Arun Jaitley has emerged unscathed from his defeat in Amritsar. In fact, he has become virtually the No. 2 with two crucial CCS portfolios, finance and defence, and Rajnath Singh has been given home, ending all ambiguity about who calls the shots in the party. 
    Sushma Swaraj, who has had an uneasy relationship with Modi, is the new external affairs minister, a very important portfolio. The assignment makes her only the second woman after Indira Gandhi to sit in the CCS. But the job will also require her to hawk Modi to countries that have been critical of him. 
    Modi's ministry-making appears to be a work in progress, and an expansion is expected soon. For instance, it's unlikely Jaitley will continue to hold finance and defence, both of which require full-time attention. Also, there are gaps, social as well as geographical, which will have to be filled. 
    Rajasthan, where BJP won all 25 Lok Sabha seats, has a solitary MoS, Nihal Chand Meghwal. Bhumihars, who rooted for Modi in Bihar, have not found a seat, with C P Thakur falling victim to the decision to bench those above 75 years of age. Although Manoj Sinha has been accommodated from UP, the community will need to be given more berths in view of looming assembly polls in Bihar. 
BIG WINNERS 
    Arun Jaitley | Will straddle both North and South Block with two of four CCS ministries, finance (with corporate affairs merged into it) and defence, making him de facto No. 2 although Rajnath and Sushma preceded him in taking oath. Was part of ministry-making discussions. Clear sign of Modi's huge trust in him. Those who said his Amritsar defeat would disqualify him from Cabinet were wrong 
    Smriti Irani | The youngest minister gets heavyweight Cabinet slot in recognition of her spirited fight against Rahul Gandhi and defence of Modi on primetime 
    Nitin Gadkari | Big comeback after having to step down as BJP chief. Gets super-ministry of transport, combining highways, shipping and ports 
BIG LOSERS 
    The 75+ club of Advani and Joshi. Rajiv Pratap Rudy 
a surprise exclusion, may be accommodated later. TOI had reported on Sun Arun Shourie might be left out. But there could be a role for him later 
Modi recounted his first meeting with Sharif in a series of tweets 
Nawaz Sharifji told me he stays in Islamabad but goes to meet his mother once a week... He saw visuals on TV of my mother offering me sweets... He told me after seeing the visuals his mother got very emotional
AMAN KI ASHA 
Pak PM Nawaz Sharif entered the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan to rousing applause 
Sharif said he came with a "message of peace", keen to take up "the threads from where Vajpayee and I left off in 1999" 
Around 6.15pm, barely minutes after Modi took oath, Pak Rangers opened fire on the border, for 2nd time in the day 
Modi will meet Sharif on Tuesday in a one-to-one expected to stretch beyond the scheduled 35 minutes 
Sharif gifted Modi suits and sweets and quoted Allama Iqbal, 'Pe wa s t a re s h aja r s e, u m e e d - e - ba h a r ra k h', on the audacity of hope Gung-ho PM opts for quality, not quota Hard Work And Loyalty Rewarded, Seniority Or Stature Not The Sole Consideration 
New Delhi: Even if there's an expansion of the Modi cabinet soon, the modest size of his team shows that he has not succumbed to "quotas" and has had no qualms about leaving MOS slots vacant rather than filling them up with people with unproven ability. 
    There are seven women in Modi's team -- Sushma Swaraj, Najma Heptulla, Smriti Irani, Uma Bharti,Maneka Gandhi and Harsimrat Kaur Bada and Nirmala Seetaraman . Of them, Sushma is the seniormost, given her status as the only woman in the BJP parliamentary board. And the youngest is Smriti Irani at 38, who has been awarded with the cabinet post of HRD minister for her spirited fight against Rahul Gandhi which she lost. In percentage terms this is the highest-ever representation for women in the Cabinet: something remarkable, given that BJP was seen as a boys' club. 
    Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar are other members of the parliamentary board to have found place in Modi's team, but the portfolios given to them suggests that seniority was not the sole consideration. 
    Dynasty considerations have been overlooked as Vasundhara Raje's son Dushyan, former Himachal CM Prem Kumar Dhumal's son Anurag Thakur Yashwant Sinha's son Jayant, former UP CM Kalyan Singh's son Rajveer and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh's son Abhishek, late Pramod Mahajan's daughter Poonam have not been given a berth. 
    The confidence of Modi in crafting his team is borne out by the exclusion of perceived heavyweights like Rajiv Pratap Rudy, C P Thakur and Shatrughan Sinha. He preferred Radha Mohan Singh over Rudy as the Rajput nominee from Bihar, perhaps also because the latter is also the general secretary in-charge of Mahrashtra and will be, therefore, involved in the forthcoming Maharashtra elections. 
    Equally, he has recognized the hard work put in by Dharmendra Pradhan who delivered Bihar for the party. Nirmala Sitharaman, who persevered as spokesperson despite slights by seniors, has also been rewarded, as also Prakash Javadekar, another spokesperson who championed Modi vigorously and agreed to withdraw his claim to a RS seat and help the party stitch up a profitable alliance with dalit leader Ramdas Athavale. 
    Neither Nirmala nor Javadekar are MPs but berths have been located for them. While Nirmala is likely to come to Rajya Sabha from Seemandhra with TDP's assistance in the by-election caused by the death of Congress veteran N Janardhana Reddy, sources said that Javadekar may be accommodated in Madhya Pradesh. 
    Quiet workers like Thawar Chand Gehelot, a supporter of Modi in the parliamentary board, and Sudarshan Bhagat have been recognized. The boldness extends to giving an MoS berth to a first-timer like V K Singh, who has charge of the NE and external affairs. 
    Nitin Gadkari has been given charge of an omnimbus transport ministry. Piyush Goyal has been picked up because of his familiarity with finance and industry.

SAARC OUTREACH 
PM Narendra Modi with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, Mauritius PM Navin Ramgoolam and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa

PM Narendra Modi and his council of ministers with President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari