Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath for a third straight term as the head of a coalition government after two full tenures in which the BJP was in majority on its own. President Draupadi Murmur administers the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Modi. The 72 council of ministers had comprised the PM and ministers, including 30 other Cabinet Ministers, 5 Ministers of State with Independent Charge and 36 Ministers of State. Modi, 73, will be equaling the feat of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who won in 1952, 1957 and 1962 general elections.
Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu to be youngest Union Minister in Cabinet. The total strength of the council of ministers cannot exceed 15% of the total number of Lok Sabha MPs. The strength of the 18th Lok Sabha is 543 members and hence the council of ministers cannot be more than 81. The BJP won 240 seats, falling short of the 272 majority mark. BJP had won 303 seats in the 2019 general elections and 282 seats in the 2014 general elections.
Interesting Fact – Despite the Lok Sabha having 543 members, counting was conducted for 542 seats following the uncontested election of BJP’s Surat candidate ‘Mukesh Dalal’.
All seven invitees from neighboring countries arrive at Rashrapati Bhavan
- Bhutan PM Tshering Tobgay,
- Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina,
- Maldives President Mohammad Muizzu,
- Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth,
- Nepal PM P.K. Dahal Prachanda,
- Seychelles Vice President Ahmed Afif,
- Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe
In 2014, the government had invited all leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) grouping, which included Afghanistan and Pakistan, In 2019 the leaders of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) grouping, including Myanmar and Thailand had attended the ceremony.
Lok Sabha (Lower House/ First Chamber/Popular House/ The House of the People)
- Composition: The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha is fixed at 550 out of which 530 members are to be the representatives of the states and
20 of the UTs. - The current strength of Lok Sabha is 543, out of which 530 members represent the states and 13 represent the UTs.
- Earlier, the President also nominated two members from the Anglo-Indian community, but by the 95th Amendment Act, 2009, this provision was valid
till 2020 only. - The normal term of Lok Sabha is five years.
- Minimum age to become a member is 25 years
- Speaker is the head of the house.
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Om Birla Re-Elected, Breaks 20-Year Lok Sabha Trend
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla won the Kota parliamentary, Rajasthan seat, thus becoming the first presiding officer in 20 years to be re-elected to the Lower House. The last Lok Sabha speaker to get re-elected to the Lower House was P A Sangma, who was the presiding officer of the 11th Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998. Sangma, then a Congress member, was re-elected from Tura in Meghalaya in the 1998 Lok Sabha election.
