Modi 3.0 Cabinet: List of leaders dropped as ministers in third term of BJP-led NDA government

Modi 3.0 Cabinet: Narendra Modi on Sunday took oath as Prime Minister of India for the third consecutive time at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati along with his new Cabinet and Council of Ministers. The event, like previous ones in 2014 and 2019, was held at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) together has a strength of 292 Members of Parliament (MPs), more than required number for the majority mark which is 272, in the 543-member House.

The BJP-NDA had set a target of winning 400-plus seats in 2024 Lok Sabha elections, however, it fell short of ahieving it after many big leaders including Smriti Irani, Ajay Kumar Tenni, Maneka Gandhi, among others lost the election. Since, the BJP didn’t make it to secure magic figure of 272 on its own and had to take the support of allies, some existing ministers have been dropped in order to accomadate alliance members from parties including Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), among other alliance members. Let’s take a look at BJP-NDA leaders who have been dropped in Modi 3.0 Cabinet.

Ministers dropped in Modi Govt 3.0

As many as 37 ministers have been dropped from the government in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term and these include seven with cabinet rank — prominent among them being Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur and Narayan Rane.

Parshottam Rupala, Arjun Munda, RK Singh and Mahendra Natha Pandey, also held cabinet positions in the second Modi government but were not retained in the Council of Ministers that took oath on Sunday. While all three Ministers with Independent Charge have been retained, out of 42 ministers of state, 30 have been dropped.

Those who have not been repeated include VK Singh, Faggansingh Kulaste, Ashwini Choubey, Danve Raosaheb Dadarao, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Sanjeev Balyan, Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Subhas Sarkar, Nisith Pramanik, Rajkumar Ranjan Singh and Pratima Bhoumik.

Meenakshi Lekhi, Munjapara Mahendrabhai, Ajay Kumar Mishra, Kailash Choudhary, Kapil Moreshwar Patil, Bharati Pravin Pawar, Kaushal Kishore, Bhagwanth Khubha and V. Muraleedharan have also not been retained.

Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, John Barla, Bishweswar Tudu, Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Devusinh Chauhan, Ajay Bhatt, A Narayanaswamy, Som Parkash, Rameswar Teli and Darshana Vikram Jardosh have also not made it to the new Council of Ministers.

Eighteen of the dropped ministers had lost the elections.

L Murugan is the only Minister of State from the previous government who lost the election but has been retained. He is already a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Smriti Irani, a Cabinet Minister in both terms of the Modi government, lost the election from Amethi to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s aide Kishori Lal Sharma by a margin of over 1.69 lakh votes.

Irani was HRD Minister and Textile Minister in the first term while she held Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs portfolios in Modi 2.0.

Parshottam Rupala was the Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in the previous government.

Rupala, who found himself in the eye of a storm kicked off by his allegedly derogatory remarks about the Kshatriya community ahead of elections, eventually emerged unscathed as he won Gujarat’s Rajkot Lok Sabha seat with a record margin of around five lakh votes.

His deputy in the Fisheries Ministry, Sanjeev Kumar Balyan has also been dropped. Balyan, a two-time MP from Muzaffarnagar, lost the seat by over 24,000 votes this time.

Anurag Thakur, who won for the fifth consecutive time from the Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency, held the dual charge of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, in Modi 2.0.

Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of Heavy Industries, was seeking a hat-trick from Chandauli but lost to Samajwadi Party’s Birendra Singh.

Raj Kumar Singh, earlier the Union minister for power and renewable energy, lost the seat in Bihar’s Arrah to CPI(ML)-Liberation’s Sudama Prasad by 59,808 votes.

Narayan Rane, who was the MSME Minister, wrested Ratnagiri- Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in a prestige battle.

This is the first time the BJP has won a Parliamentary seat in the coastal Konkan region, a traditional stronghold of the Shiv Sena (Undivided).

Former Maharashtra CM Rane joined the BJP in 2019 and was nominated to Rajya Sabha. This was his debut Lok Sabha election.

Rajeev Chandrashekhar, who was the Minister of State for Skill Development, Electronics and IT and Jalshakti, lost the election from Thiruvananthapuram to sitting Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

“Today curtains down on my 18-year stint of public service of which 3 years I had the privilege to serve with PM @narendramodi ji’s TeamModi 2.0. I certainly didn’t intend to end my 18 years of public service as a candidate who lost an election but that’s how its turned out.

“My deepest thanks to all those I met, all those who supported me – and in particular all those karyakartas and leaders who so inspired and energized me. Thanks also to my colleagues in govt over last 3 years,” Chandrashekhar wrote on X.

Former Union minister of state for sport and youth affairs Nisith Pramanik lost the Cooch Behar seat in West Bengal to TMC’s Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia by 39,250 votes. Subhas Sarkar, who was MoS Education in the Modi 2.0 government, lost the Bankura seat to Trinamool Congress’s Arup Chakraborty by 32,778 votes.

1. Narendra Singh Tomar: He didn’t contest the Lok Sabha Election 2024 as he was elected to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly in 2023 and became the Speaker.
2. Arjun Munda: The former Jharkhand Chief Minister lost the election from Khunti. Congress candidate Kali Charan Munda defeated him with a margin of 1,49,675 votes. 
3. Smriti Zubin Irani: The former minister lost the election from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi. Congress candidate and Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma defeated her with a massive margin of 1,67,196 votes. 
4. Narayan Tatu Rane: The former Maharashtra Chief Minister is likely to be dropped even after winning the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency. He won the seat by defeating Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackrey) candidate Vinayak Bhaurao Raut with a margin of 47,858 votes.
5. Pashupati Kumar Paras: The Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) chief didn’t contest the Lok Sabha Election 2024. He won the 2019 Lok Sabha Election from the Hajipur constituency of Bihar.
6. Raj Kumar Singh: The former minister lost the election from Bihar’s Arrah this time. Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) candidate Sudama Prasad defeated Singh with a margin of 59,808 votes. 
7. Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey: The senior BJP leader lost the election from Uttar Pradesh’s Chandauli this time. Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Birendra Singh defeated Pandey with a margin of 21,565 votes.
8. Parshottam Rupala: The senior BJP leader is likely to be dropped from the Modi Cabinet even after winning the Rajkot Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat. He won the seat by defeating Congress candidate Paresh Dhanani with a margin of 4,84,260 votes.
9. Anurag Singh Thakur: The BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh is likely to be dropped from the Modi Cabinet even after winning the Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency. He won the seat by defeating Congress candidate Satpal Raizada with a margin of 1,82,357 votes.
10. Faggan Singh Kulaste: The BJP veteran is not likely to be inducted in the third Modi Ministry even after winning the Mandla Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh. He won the seat by defeating Congress candidate Omkar Singh Markam with a margin of 1,03,846 votes.
11. Prahlad Singh Patel: He didn’t contest the Lok Sabha Election 2024 as he was elected to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly in 2023. He became the Panchayat and Rural Development and Labour minister in the Mohan Yadav Cabinet.
12. Ashwini Kumar Choubey: The BJP veteran was not given a party ticket to contest the Lok Sabha election this time. He represented the Buxar constituency twice in a row from 2014 to 2024.
13. General VK Singh: The former Indian Army chief was not given a party ticket to contest the Lok Sabha election this time. He represented the Ghaziabad constituency twice in a row from 2014 to 2024.
14. Raosaheb Dadarao Danve: The senior BJP leader lost the election from Maharashtra’s Jalna this time. Congress candidate Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale defeated Danve with a margin of 1,09,958 votes.
15. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti: She was defeated by Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Naresh Chandra Uttam Patel in Fatehpur by 33,199 votes. She won the constituency twice in a row in 2014 and 2019.
16. Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan: He was defeated by Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Harendra Singh Malik in Muzaffarnagar by 24,672 votes. He won the constituency twice in a row in 2014 and 2019.
17. Rajeev Chandrasekhar: He was defeated by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram by 16,077 votes.
18. Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma: He was defeated by Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Narayan Das Ahirwar in Jalaun by 53,898 votes. He represented the constituency five times in 1996, 1998, 2004, 2014 and 2019.
19. Darshana Vikram Jardosh: She was dropped by the BJP from Gujarat’s Surat Lok Sabha constituency.
20. Meenakshi Lekhi: She was dropped by the BJP from the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency.
21. Som Parkash: He was dropped by the BJP from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha constituency.
22. Renuka Singh Saruta: She didn’t contest the Lok Sabha Election 2024 as she was elected to the Chhattisgarh Assembly from the Bharatpur-Sonhat constituency in 2023.
23. Rameswar Teli: He was dropped by the BJP from Assam’s Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency. He was replaced by Sarbananda Sonowal.
24. Kailash Choudhary: He stood third in the Lok Sabha Election 2024 from Rajasthan’s Barmer. Congress candidate Ummeda Ram Beniwal won the seat by defeating Independent candidate Ravindra Singh Bhati with a margin of 1,18,176 votes.
25. A Narayanaswamy: He was dropped by the BJP from Karnataka’s Chitradurga Lok Sabha constituency.
26. Kaushal Kishore: He was defeated by Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate RK Chaudhary in Uttar Pradesh’s Mohanlalganj by 70,292 votes.
27. Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni: He was defeated by Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Utkarsh Verma ‘Madhur’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Kheri by 34,329 votes.
28. Nisith Pramanik: He was defeated by Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar by 39,250 votes.
29. John Barla: He was dropped by the BJP from West Bengal’s Alipurduars Lok Sabha constituency.
30. Dr Munjapara Mahendrabhai: He was dropped by the BJP from Gujarat’s Surendranagar Lok Sabha constituency.
31. Bishweswar Tudu: He was dropped by the BJP from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha constituency.
32. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad: The Maharashtra BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP is likely to be dropped from the Modi Cabinet.
33. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh: He was dropped by the BJP from Manipur’s Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency.
34. Bharati Pravin Pawar: She was defeated by Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate Bhaskar Murlidhar Bhagare in Maharashtra’s Dindori by 1,13,199 votes.
35. Subhas Sarkar: He was defeated by Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Arup Chakraborty in West Bengal’s Bankura by 32,778 votes.
36. Pratima Bhoumik: She was dropped by the BJP from the Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency.
37. Bhagwanth Khuba: He was defeated by Congress candidate Sagar Eshwar Khandre in Karnataka’s Bidar by 1,28,875 votes.
38. Kapil Moreshwar Patil: He was defeated by Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate Suresh Gopinath Mhatre in Maharashtra’s Bhiwandi by 66,121 votes.
39. Devusinh Chauhan: The Gujarat BJP leader is likely to be dropped from the Modi Cabinet even after winning the Kheda constituency.
40. Ajay Bhatt: The Uttarakhand BJP leader is likely to be dropped from the Modi Cabinet.