NEW DELHI – India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday named histrusted aide Amit Shah to the key home affairs ministry as part of a majorcabinet shakeup for his second term in office.
Nirmala Sitharaman moved from defence to become finance minister in asecond shock, while career diplomat S. Jaishankar became foreign minister.
Hardline Hindu nationalist Shah was the president of the right-wingBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who masterminded Modi’s second straightlandslide victory in the country’s national election.
Shah, 54, will now pursue Modi’s nationalist agenda in internal security,immigration and other key national issues.
A controversial figure, Shah was accused of ordering police to carry outthree extrajudicial killings in his home state of Gujarat in 2005. He wasbanished from the western state for two years before being cleared in 2014for lack of evidence.
Recently he hit the headlines after comparing illegal immigrants to“termites” that must be thrown out of the country.
But he has been a close confidante of Modi for nearly two decades and someanalysts say Shah is now in place to take over the party if Modi stood down.
“Congratulations to @AmitShah ji who transformed BJP into one of thelargest political organisations in the world & will now play a bigger rolein building #NewIndia,” tweeted Shah’s cabinet colleague Smriti Irani.
Irani, who defeated opposition Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in his familybastion of Amethi in the election, was handed the ministry of women andchild development.
Facing major challenges with the economy, job creation and a farm debtcrisis, Modi replaced around three dozen ministers and deputies from thelast administration, bringing in many new lawmakers.
– Major rejig –
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Sitharaman, 59, became India’s first full-time woman finance minister aftera similar landmark stint as defence minister. Former premier Indira Gandhihad briefly held the defence and finance portfolios in the 1970s.
As finance minister Sitharaman will be expected to steer India’s coursethrough reforms and arrest an economic slowdown in Asia’s third-largesteconomy.
Sithamaramn could get an early idea of economic difficulties ahead wheneconomic growthfigures for January-March are released later Friday.
The previous finance minister, Arun Jaitley, asked not to be considered fora government post because of ill health.
The induction of Jaishankar, a China expert and a former ambassador toWashington, as the new foreign minister was seen as a sign that Modi willput more emphasis ondiplomacy in the sensitive area around India in his second term.
Jaishankar, who was the top foreign ministry official until his retirementlast year, was an influential advisor to Modi on diplomacy during his firstfive years in power.Jaishankar took the mantle from Sushma Swaraj, a party veteran whounderwent a kidney transplant in 2016 and has been beset by poor health.
Modi also set up a new ministry of water power in keeping with his promiseto make safe drinking water a priority for his government.
Modi, 24 cabinet rank ministers and more than 30 deputy ministers weresworn in at the presidential palace on Thursday.
Presidents and prime ministers from neighbouring Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,Nepal and the Maldives were present, but arch-rival Pakistan was not amongthose invited.
