On Wednesday, seven female MPs were sworn in as members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new council of ministers, which is tasked with serving the new India. According to sources, the new inductions were made with diversity in mind, with a special emphasis on the representation of all sections of society, including gender, caste, and ethnicity.
In a mega cabinet expansion, 43 leaders took oath as ministers in the Modi government 2.0 on Wednesday. The swearing in ceremony, which took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan amid COVID-19 protocols, came days ahead of the monsoon session of parliament.
The women MPs who took oath of office on Wednesday are Anupriya Patel, Shobha Karandlaje, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi, Annpurna Devi, Pratima Bhoumik and Bharati Pravin Pawar.
Among them, three are first-time MPs while Patel is making a comeback to the council of ministers as she was the Union Minister of State for Health under Prime Minister Modi earlier.
Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani (both Cabinet ministers), Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Renuka Singh Saruta are already part of the Union council of ministers.