Narendra Modi’s government in the Center now has only 1 remaining NDA ally as Union Minister
New Delhi:
Following the death of Lok Janshakti Party leader and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Ramdas Athawale of the Republican Party of India (RPI) is the only member among the BJP allies in the NDA government in the Center.
However, there is no representation of the BJP allies in the Union Cabinet. Mr. Athawale is Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment.
Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena, Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal and Ram Vilas Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party were from the BJP-led NDA alliance in the Union Cabinet when the Modi 2.0 government returned to power in 2019 after Lok Sabha elections.
While Shiv Sena resigned from the NDA in late 2019, Shiromani Akali Dal left the alliance recently over new agricultural laws.
Another key ally of the NDA, the JD (U) had stayed out of government.
In addition to Prime Minister Modi, a total of 57 ministers (24 cabinet ministers, nine state ministers (independent) and 24 state ministers) had been sworn in as members of the Union Council of Ministers on May 30, 2019 .
Following the resignations of Arvind Sawant and Harsimrat Kaur Badal, and the death of Ram Vilas Paswan, there are 21 cabinet ministers.
With the recent death of the Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi, the number of ministers of State has also been reduced to 23.
According to the Constitution, the total number of Union Ministers, including the Prime Minister, shall not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi can have up to 80 ministers in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
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