For the first time Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given priority to the Southern MPs in his cabinet. He inducted as many as 13 MPs from Southern states in his cabinet on Sunday.
Prominent faces from the Southern states and the leaders in the previous cabinet, Nirmala Sitharaman, S. Jaishankar, Pralhad Joshi, and Shobha Karandlaje, were retained by the BJP, while several faces from their NDA coalition have also been inducted.
They include former Chief Minister and JD (S) leader H. D. Kumaraswamy and two TDP MPs—K. Rammohan Naidu and Dr. Chandrasekhar Pemmasani. The BJP from these southern states also appointed their leaders, including Srinivasa Varma from Andhra Pradesh, Suresh Gopi and George Kurian from Kerala.
BJP leaders from Telangana Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar were also included in the Modi 3.0 government. In Tamil Nadu, L. Murugan was retained in the new government.
Earlier, during the NDA’s parliament party meeting, Narendra Modi also hailed the alliance’s strengthened position in South India in the recently concluded Lok Sabha Polls 2024.
Mentioning the NDA’s foundation of ‘new politics’ in South India, PM Modi said, “In this election, the NDA has strengthened the foundation of new politics in South India. While Congress had recently formed its government in Karnataka and Telangana, the people’s faith in Congress was instantly shattered. They came out of illusion and embraced the NDA in both states.”
Further, it is significant to note that the BJP for the time has also marked its entry into Kerala, with their candidate and now Minister Suresh Gopi winning the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency. Moreover, in Tamil Nadu, while the BJP failed to open their account, the voting percentage for the party in the state has increased significantly.
