Many old faces retain key posts in Modi's new Cabinet

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new coalition government on June 10 appointed Ms Nirmala Sitharaman as finance minister for a second consecutive term, the government said in a statement.

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Ministerial posts were allotted a day after Mr Modi was sworn in for a rare third consecutive term on June 9, and his Cabinet held its first meeting on the evening of June 10.

Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Interior Minister Amit Shah also retained their portfolios, the government said.

After Mr Modi was sworn in, he was followed by his council of ministers – a group that consists of 30 Cabinet ministers. Nineteen of them are from his previous Cabinet.

Some of the new faces include Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J. P. Nadda and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Five of the new appointees are from the BJP’s coalition partners, whom Mr Modi has been forced to share power with after his party lost its majority in the Parliament.

Here is a look at some of the key names in the Cabinet:

Amit Shah

Mr Amitbhai Anilchandra Shah, 59, is a former president of the BJP and a close aide of Mr Modi.

He has risen through the ranks in the party, from a lowly party worker who hung campaign posters to influential home minister in 2019. He has been one of the key architects of critical government decisions, including revoking autonomy of the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, and amending the citizenship law to grant nationality to only non-Muslim migrants from neighbouring countries.

Mr Shah’s rise has been closely interlaced with Mr Modi’s own ascent to the top. The duo met in the 1980s in the western state of Gujarat, where they were members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the ruling party. The two men come from very different backgrounds.

Mr Shah is a former stockbroker from a wealthy family, while Mr Modi is the son of a tea stall owner – yet they both became close allies.