PM Modi Takes Charge For Third Term Today, Signs File for PM Kisan Nidhi Release

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the South Block on Monday and took charge for his third term.

After being sworn in, the Prime Miniter signed his first file authorising release of 17th instalment of PM Kisan Nidhi. This will benefit 9.3 crore farmers and distribute around Rs 20,000 crores.

The first meeting of the third Narendra Modi cabinet is also likely to be held today around 5 pm at the Prime Minister’s Lok Kalyan Marg residence.

The PM has no bilateral meetings scheduled with foreign leaders for the day.

A total of 71 took oath as ministers in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Sunday, days after the NDA returned to the power winning majority in the Lok Sabha elections.

The Modi 3.0 cabinet has expanded to 72 members, including 30 Cabinet Ministers and 5 Ministers of State (independent charge). The majority of the berths are allocated to the BJP, with the remaining going to allied parties.

There was a dozen of minister from BJP allies while the rest were from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Union Ministers like Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman have been retained in the NDA’s third term while Smriti Irani and Anurag Thakur have been dropped.

The BJP had an absolute majority in the previous two terms — the 16th and 17th Lok Sabhas — which reflected in the council of ministers with only a few alliance partners being given space.