The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): Seven women, including two with Cabinet roles, have been inducted into the new council of ministers in the 18th Lok Sabha. The previous council, which dissolved on June 5, had ten women ministers. Those dropped include former Union Minister Smriti Irani, Minister of State Dr. Bharti Pawar, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Darshana Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi, and Pratima Bhoumik.
The newly inducted ministers are former Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP MPs Annpurna Devi, Shobha Karandlaje, Raksha Khadse, Savitri Thakur, Nimuben Bambhaniya, and Apna Dal MP Anupriya Patel. Sitharaman and Devi have been given Cabinet positions, while the others have been sworn in as ministers of state.
Irani and Pawar lost their seats in Amethi and Dandori, respectively. Jyoti, Jardosh, Lekhi, and Bhoumik were dropped by the BJP and not fielded in the recent elections. Devi, Karandlaje, Khadse, Thakur, Bambhaniya, and Patel, who won their respective seats, have been included in the new council of ministers.
This year, a total of 74 women have won the Lok Sabha elections, a slight decrease from the 78 elected in 2019. Narendra Modi, along with his 71 council of ministers, took the oath on Sunday as the new coalition government was formed after two full terms with the BJP holding a majority.
Modi’s first term in 2014 saw eight women ministers, while his second term began with six and ended with ten women ministers by the time the 17th Lok Sabha dissolved.