Ajit Pawar's NCP faction excluded from Cabinet in Modi government 3.0

Ajit Pawar's NCP was offered one MoS Independent Charge post by the BJP government, which party leader Praful Patel called a 'demotion'

The Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), part of the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, expressed disappointment after their request for a Cabinet berth in the new Modi government was not accommodated. Instead, the NCP was offered the post of a Minister of State (MoS) with independent charge, which party leader Praful Patel described as a “demotion”.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis explained the situation on Sunday, stating, “The Nationalist Congress Party was offered one seat from the government - MoS Independent Charge. However, from their side, Praful Patel's name was finalised, and he was already a minister. Therefore, he would not be able to hold the post of MoS Independent Charge.”

Fadnavis further said, “When a government is formed with an alliance, certain criteria need to be decided, because several parties are involved. But the criteria cannot be twisted for one party.” He assured that Ajit Pawar’s party would be considered during future Cabinet expansions.

Patel displeased with ‘demoted’ ministerial offer

Meanwhile, NCP leader Praful Patel expressed his dissatisfaction with the MoS charge offered to him. “Last night, we were informed that our party would get a Minister of State with independent charge. I was previously a Cabinet Minister in the Union Government, so this would be a demotion for me. We have informed the BJP leadership, and they have assured us to wait for a few days for remedial measures,” Patel said.

Ajit Pawar, deputy CM and NCP chief, echoed Patel’s sentiments, stating, “Praful Patel has served as a Cabinet Minister in the central government, and we did not feel right in accepting the position of Minister of State with independent charge. We told them (BJP) that we were ready to wait for a few days, but we want a Cabinet ministry. We are going to attend the swearing-in ceremony today.”

He added, “We currently have one Lok Sabha and one Rajya Sabha MP, but in the next 2-3 months, we will have a total of three members in the Rajya Sabha, increasing our MPs in Parliament to four. So we said we should be given one Cabinet ministry seat.”

In the recent Lok Sabha elections, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP secured one seat in Maharashtra. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction, which joined the INDIA bloc, secured eight seats in the state.

Have Smriti Irani and Anurag Thakur been dropped from Modi’s new cabinet?

Earlier, a report by Mint stated that former Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Anurag Thakur may also be excluded from the Cabinet.

Senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Nirmala Sitharaman, and Mansukh Mandaviya, were seen meeting Modi for tea on Sunday morning. This meeting, a tradition Modi has upheld since 2014, took place before the Cabinet formation exercise. Both Irani and Thakur were absent from the NDA meeting.

Irani, who suffered a defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, lost the Amethi constituency — a key region in the Hindi heartland — to Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma by a margin of 167,196 votes. This loss is notable given her previous victory in 2019 when she unseated Rahul Gandhi by over 55,000 votes.

In contrast, Anurag Thakur secured his fifth consecutive term from Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur constituency, defeating Congress’ Satpal Raizada by a margin of 182,357 votes.

Among the new faces in the Union Council of Ministers, Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai is set to join as Minister of State. Other potential inductees include Manohar Lal Khattar, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and Ravneet Singh Bittu.

Senior leaders like Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Nirmala Sitharaman, and Mansukh Mandaviya are expected to retain their positions in the new government. Sources indicated that outgoing finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Kiren Rijiju will also take the oath.

The results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, announced on Tuesday by the Election Commission of India, revealed that in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) won 37 seats, BJP won 33, Congress secured six seats, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) won two, and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) and Apna Dal (Soneylal) each won one seat.