The swearing-in ceremony of the government took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 9 June. During this, Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister for the third time. This time 7 women ministers have got a place in the Modi cabinet.
It includes Nirmala Sitharaman, Annapurna Devi, Anupriya Patel, Shobha Karandlaje, Raksha Khadse, Savitri Thakur and Neemuben Bambhania. 64 year old Nirmala Sitharaman is a member of Parliament from Rajya Sabha. Where as Annapurna Devi (age 55 years) has won the election from Koderma seat of Jharkhand. At the same time, Raksha Khadse is the youngest woman minister of the Modi cabinet, 37-year-old Raksha Khadse is the daughter-in-law of Nationalist Congress Party leader Eknath Khadse, she won the election from Rover seat.
Let’s take a look at the political journey of these 7 women ministers
1- Nirmala Sitharaman
Nirmala Sitharaman was sworn in as the Minister of Corporate Affairs and 28th Finance Minister of India on 31 May 2019. She has also served as the second female Defense Minister of India. Sitharaman joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2006 and was appointed as the national spokes person of the party in 2010. In 2014, Sitharaman was inducted as a junior minister from Andhra Pradesh in Narendra Modi’s cabinet and was elected as a Rajya Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh. Nirmala Sitharaman was born on August 18, 1959 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
2- Annapurna Devi
Annapurna Devi, who made it to the Modi cabinet from Jharkhand, has become MP for the second time. Earlier in 2019, she had contested elections from Koderma as a BJP candidate. Earlier, BJP had made her Minister of State for Education. This time too, expressing confidence in her, She has been sworn in as minister for the second time. Annapurna Devi’s full name is Annapurna Devi Yadav. She is a Lok Sabha member from Koderma, Jharkhand, won the 2019 general elections as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and one of the national vice presidents of BJP. Before this she was in Rashtriya Janata Dal. Entered politics after her husband’s death. Before joining BJP, Annapurna Devi was in RJD.
3- Anupriya Patel
Anupriya Patel is a young female face in the politics of Uttar Pradesh. She represents her father Sonelal’s party Apna Dal (S). Apna Dal The party is divided into two factions, Apna Dal (S) represented by Anupriya Patel and Apna Dal (Krishna Patel faction) represented by her mother. Anupriya Patel was born on 29 April 1981 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
4- Shobha Karandlaje
Shobha Karandlaje, who became Lok Sabha MP for the third time, has once again been included in the Modi cabinet. Shobha was the Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in Modi Government 2.0. 57 year old Shobha has done graduation in Social Work and MA in Sociology. Shobha Karandlaje is counted among the people close to former Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa. Her association with BJP is about 25 years old.
5- Raksha Khadse
Raksha Khadse, who joined the Modi cabinet, has studied Computer Science till B.Sc. 37-year-old Raksha Khadse is the daughter-in-law of senior Maharashtra BJP leader Eknath Khadse. Khadse became MP for the first time at the age of 26. Raksha’s husband Nikhil Khadse had committed suicide by shooting himself.
6- Savitri Thakur
The tribal leader, who won from Dhar Lok Sabha seat, will now represent Malwa and Nimar regions of Madhya Pradesh in the House and the Union Cabinet. 46 year old Savitri Thakur is the tribal face of BJP in Madhya Pradesh. She has traveled from Panchayat elections to Parliament. She had been a District Panchayat from 2004 to 2009 and became MP for the first time in 2014 and now has become a BJP MP once again in 2024.
7- Nimbuen Bambhania
Nimuben is an MP from Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Apart from being a politician, She is also an activist. She was mayor before contesting Lok Sabha elections. Bharatiben Shayal, the then MP from Bhavnagar, was made the candidate by cutting her ticket. She defeated his opponent by four and a half lakh votes. She comes from Telpada Koli community. Nimbuen was born in 1966. Her husband’s name is Jayanti Bhai Bambhania. She has graduated in Science and done B.Ed.
