From dominant social groups to backward classes find representation in Narendra Modi-led government

NEW DELHI: The composition of the Narendra Modi Cabinet represents the dominant social groups that supported his journey to the Raisina Hill, the regions that overwhelmingly voted for his party and those who marched alongside him while the BJP’s allies have to be content for now with just a single Cabinet berth each. But another Cabinet expansion seems to be in the offing with states such as Rajasthan underrepresented and many allies seeking a greater share in the government.

The rising middle class and the Sangh Parivar’s Brahmin-Vyshya-Rajput core constituency form the social backdrop of the Modi Cabinet. After Modi, BJP president Rajnath Singh, a Rajput, was the second one to be sworn-in as a Cabinet minister followed by five Brahmins — Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Kalraj Mishra, Ananth Kumar — and aVyshya, Harsh Vardhan.

Of the total 45 ministers, there are over 20 ministers from the upper castes with seven Brahmins, five Rajputs and two Vyshyas giving the government a distinct class complexion. The average age of the Cabinet is 60 years with the oldest being Najma Heptullah at 74 and youngest being Smriti Irani at 38.

While Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra, the states that made Modi’s resounding victory possible, have the most number of ministers in the government, the first ally and one of the three Dalits to take the oath of office was Ram Vilas Paswan from Bihar. The only Muslim face in the cabinet is Heptullah, who quit the Congress in 2004 to join BJP.


The aspirational Other Backward Castes that really made the Hindutva surge possible in the Hindi heartland and elsewhere have a presence in the Union Cabinet with Uma Bharati and Gopinath Munde getting seats at the high table.

Telugu Desam Party nominee Ashok Gajapati Raju Pusapati is from the erstwhile ruling family of Vizianagaram and has been an effective legislator and party leader. The Shiv Sena’s Anant Geete and the Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal were predictable inclusions from the dominant communities of Marathas and Jat Sikhs, respectively.

Surprisingly, Rajasthan has just one representative in the Union government, despite BJP winning all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state. For the first time in independent India, the Prime Minister seems to have enforced a cut-off age for Cabinet ministers, keeping party patriarchs LK Advani (87) and Murli Manohar Joshi (80) out of the government.

There has been an attempt to accommodate key leaders from various states with Sadanand Gowda, former chief minister of Karnataka, getting a slot in the Cabinet and the lone BJP parliamentarian from Tamil Nadu Pon Radhakrishnan being made a minister of state. Sanjeev Baliyan, the Jat leader who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh government for his alleged involvement in the Muzaffarnagar riots, is also a member of Modi’s council of ministers.