Cabinet Reshuffle: Smriti Irani and Anurag Thakur Omitted from Modi Cabinet 3.0 Tea Meet, Changes Expected

As the anticipation grows for Narendra Modi‘s inauguration ceremony as Prime Minister, notable absentees from the finalized Cabinet lineup are BJP leaders Smriti Irani and Anurag Thakur.

Senior party members like Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Nirmala Sitharaman, and Mansukh Mandaviya were seen dining with Modi over tea, following the tradition he established before Cabinet formations since 2014.

Smriti Irani and Anurag Thakur were conspicuously missing from the tea gathering at Modi’s residence, hinting at possible changes within the Cabinet formation.

The cabinet swearing-in is expected to include more new faces marking Modi 3.0, with Irani having suffered a defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

In the elections, Irani lost to Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma in the Amethi constituency, where she had previously defeated Rahul Gandhi in 2019.

On the other hand, Anurag Thakur secured his fifth consecutive term from Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur constituency, triumphing over Congress’ Satpal Raizada with a substantial vote margin.

New inductees in the Union Council of Ministers include Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai and possibly leaders like 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.

In addition, outgoing ministers like Sitharaman, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Kiren Rijiju are also set to take oath in the upcoming ceremony.

The recent Lok Sabha election results revealed Samajwadi Party winning 37 seats, BJP securing 33 seats, Congress with 6, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Aazad Samaj Party getting 2 each, and Apna Dal earning 1 seat in Uttar Pradesh, as announced by the Election Commission of India.