Narendra Modi, the man, the myth, the legend, once thought to be invincible, has shown vulnerability at times and found himself at the mercy of voters. Now, alliance partners of the NDA, mainly Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu, will play a significant role and decide the fate of this alliance in Modi’s 3.0 government, which is expected to come into existence on June 9, 2024.
Does Modi have what it takes to run a coalition government? Only time will tell, but from his past, we have learned that he possesses the dedication and sheer power to steer the ship through what many are calling turbulent seas.
Whether it was the 2002 riots, winning the UP election after the farm law agitation, or the Balakot strike, Modi has shown that when it comes to standing firm in a storm, he is a man of great potential.
But all is not a bed of roses for him this time. While Modi is undoubtedly the number one leader in India right now, his party has failed to reach the crucial halfway mark. Their ambitious ‘400+ seats’ slogan has backfired heavily, but that is a discussion for another day. Today, we will focus on who could be Modi’s soldiers in the Modi 3.0 government now that the BJP has fallen short of a majority in Parliament. Alliance partners must be looking for a significant chunk of the cabinet seats and ministerial positions.
Modi, as we know him, has never been in a coalition government where he had to depend on alliance partners to prove his majority in Parliament. During his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2012, he consistently secured a majority in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. He always commanded a majority in the assembly across the three elections he contested during his stunt as Gujarat’s CM. While the BJP has previously shared cabinet and ministerial positions with their pre-poll alliance partners, it wasn’t out of necessity. This time is different. Modi will be facing ambitious leaders like Nitish Kumar from JD(U) and Chandrababu Naidu from TDP, who are crucial to the stability of this coalition government.
While penning this article, two beautiful lines came to mind:
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” – Shakespeare’s “Henry IV, Part 2” (Act 3, Scene 1)
“सितारों से आगे जहाँ और भी हैं
अबहीं इश्क़ के इम्तिहाँ और भी हैं”
– Allama Iqbal
This is a test for Modi, a path he has never traveled before. The question arises: who will be his colleagues on this journey?
In previous elections, when the BJP did secure a majority on its own, they had only 3-4 ministers from NDA alliance partners. This time, alliance partners hold significant bargaining power and will likely seek lucrative portfolios, whether it be Nitish Kumar, Jayant, or Chirag Paswan.
PM Modi has also ensured that they don’t bend beyond a limit in front of NDA alliance partners in terms of distributing ministerial seats. Modi likes to keep a direct eye on all ministries, which is one of the reasons why the PMO has been the strongest since Indira Gandhi’s tenure. This time too, the BJP is likely to keep all important portfolios. Modi does not want any hiccups of corruption during this third term as PM.
PM Modi is known for maintaining high secrecy around his decisions, and this time is no different. Despite the secrecy, we, like many others, speculate on the possible names.
As per various news channels, here is the probable list of Modi’s cabinet.
- Narendra Modi – Prime Minister, of course.
- Rajnath Singh – Either Home Minister or Defence Minister.
- Amit Shah – Home Minister or Finance Minister & Minister of Cooperation.
- Piyush Goyal – Education Minister or Finance Minister.
- JP Nadda – Health Minister or Minister of Urban Development of India.
- Jai Shankar – Extern Affairs
- Shivraj Sigh Chauhan – Agriculture Minister
- Jyotiratidia Scindia – Minister of Urban Development of India or Aviation Minister.
- Nitin Gadkari – Highway Minister
Apart from this NDA alliance partners are likely to get 6-8 seats including MoS.
Mr. Amit Singh