New Delhi : In a sharp criticism following the announcement of the new cabinet ministers under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi expressed concerns about the treatment of coalition partners and said that they will be regarded as "second class citizens" in the government.
"Portfolio allocation shows that @narendramodi does not intend to respect his coalition partners. Both @Jduonline and @JaiTDP should be ready to be treated as second-class citizens in this government," Atishi wrote in a social media post on X.
The new council of ministers comprises 30 Cabinet ministers, 36 Ministers of State (MoS), and five MoS with independent charge.
Among these, the Civil aviation ministry has been given to Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, who is also the youngest serving minister in the Modi cabinet 3.0.
A close aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Lalan Singh, JD(U) MP-elect from Munger has been given the Union Panchayati Raj ministry.
Apart from this, Jitan Ram Manjhi has been given the MSME ministry (Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) under the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A two-time chief minister of Karnataka and state president of Janata Dal (Secular), HD Kumaraswamy is given the Heavy Industries ministry.
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) President Chirag Paswan has been appointed as the Minister of Food Processing Industries. The council of ministers is a blend of youth and experience with senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar taking oath of office.
Several young leaders from the BJP and allies, including first-time MPs, also made it to the council of ministers. Actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, who is the first BJP MP from Kerala and Harsh Malhotra, who won Lok Sabha polls from East Delhi, are among the first-time MPs in the union cabinet.
Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister for his third successive term at an impressive ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday evening with 71 MPs from the BJP and its allies joining the party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.