Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday allocated portfolios among members of his new Council of Ministers, retaining Mr Rajnath Singh as Defence Minister, Mr Amit Shah as Home Minister, Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman as Finance Minister and Dr S Jaishankar as External Affairs Minister.

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be the new Minister for Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Rural Development, while Mr Kiren Rijiju has been given the charge of the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, in the new BJP-led NDA government.

BJP President J P Nadda, who has been re-inducted into the government, will be the new Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister, while former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar will be Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs and Power.

Mr Nitin Gadkari, another BJP stalwart, will continue as the Minister for Road Transport and Highways, ostensibly because of his fine performance in the ministry. Mr Dharmendra Pradhan has also been retained as Education Minister while Mr Hardeep Singh Puri will continue as Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister.

Mr Ashwini Vaishnaw has also been retained as Railways Minister and given the charge of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry too since Mr Anurag Thakur has not found a berth in the new ministry. He has also been given the charge of the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry.

Mr Rijiju has also been given the charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs. Mr Pralhad Joshi will be the new Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and New & Renewable Energy.

Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia will be the Minister of Communications and Development of North-Eastern Region. Mr Piyush Goyal will continue as Commerce and Industry Minister.

While preferring continuity in key portfolios, the PM has ensured that the NDA allies too were given some important ministries. Mr K Rammohan Naidu, the youngest minister in the Modi government who belongs to the Telugu Desam party (TDP), got the Civil Aviation portfolio.

Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi will be the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Mr Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (RV) will be the Minister of Food Processing Industries while Mr Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan Singh) of the Janata Dal (United) gets the Panchayati Raj and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying ministries.

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy will be the new Heavy Industries Minister. He has also been given the charge of the Steel Ministry.

BJP’s veteran from Assam Sarbananda Sonowal will continue as Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. Mr Jual Oram, BJP leader from Odisha, will be the Minister of Tribal Affairs while party veteran from Bihar Giriraj Singh will be the Minister of Textiles.

Dr Virendra Kumar will be the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, and BJP leader from Rajasthan Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will be the Minister of Culture and Tourism. Mr Mansukh Mandaviya, who was the Health Minister in the previous Modi government, will be the new Minister of Labour. He has also been given the charge of the Sports and Youth Affairs Ministry.

Mr G Kishan Reddy, who was Culture Minister in the previous government, will be the Minister for Coal and Mines.

Mr Jayant Chaudhary, the RLD leader, has been given the charge of the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry as Minister of State with Independent charge. He has also been made MoS in the Education Ministry.

Mr Ravneet Singh, who contested unsuccessfully from Ludhiana in Punjab, has been made Minister of State in the Food Processing Industries and Railways ministries.