Centre constitutes Cabinet Committees on security, economic and political affairs

New Delhi: Heavy Industries Minister H D Kumaraswamy was chosen as a member of the crucial Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reconstituted eight high-level cabinet panels with ministers from allies reflecting the changed political dynamics after latest Lok Sabha elections.

Except for Cabinet Committees on Security, Appointments and Accommodation, five cabinet committees on economic affairs, parliamentary affairs, political affairs, investment and growth and skill, employment and livelihood have members from the allies. Ministers from JD(U), JD(S), TDP, RLD and HAM are members of various panels.

Kumaraswamy is part of the 11-member panel headed by the prime minister, whose membership has risen from eight. JD(U)’s Rajiv Ranjan ‘Lalan’ Singh is also part of the panel that has senior ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nitin Gadkari, Shivraj Chouhan, S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan as members.

Kumaraswamy, Lalan Singh and Chouhan are the new members in this panel, while all others were part of the previous panel.

There is no change in the prime minister-headed Cabinet Committee on Security in which Rajnath Singh, Shah, Nirmala and Jaishankar are the other members. The prime minister and the Home minister continue to be in the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

Rajnath continues to head the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs from which previous members Goyal and Pralhad Joshi were omitted.

Anurag Thakur and Arjun Munda are not in the cabinet. TDP’s K Rammohan Naidu and Lalan Singh along with Shah, J P Nadda, Nirmala, Virendra Kumar, Jual Oram, Kiren Rijiju and C R Patil are members of the panel.

Modi heads the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs which has seen the exit of Joshi, Giriraj Singh and Mansukh Mandaviya. Smriti Irani, who is not in the cabinet after her election loss, is another omission while among the allies, Jitan Ram Manjhi and Naidu are members.

Minister of State for Skill Development Jayant Chaudhary, who does not have cabinet rank, has been included as a special invitee in the Cabinet Committee on Skill, Employment and Livelihood. Gadkari, Mandaviya and Gajendra Shekhawat are the new entrants in the 12-member panel.

LJP(RV)’s Chirag Paswan is a member of the Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth.

In the Modi-led six-member Cabinet Committee on Accommodation, Urban Development Minister M L Khattar replaces his predecessor Hardeep Puri while Jitendra SIngh is a special invitee. Other members are Shah, Gadkari, Nirmala and Goyal.