2 Ministers From Northeast Retained In Modi 3.0

Two Union Ministers from the northeast were retained in the Modi 3.0 cabinet. One Rajya Sabha MP from the region was also inducted in the new government.

In the new government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who won from Assam's Dibrugarh seat, and political secretary to the Assam Chief Minister Pabitra Margherita, were made ministers.

Former Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who won from Arunachal West, was included in the new Union cabinet.

All the three BJP leaders from the northeast attended the high tea at PM Modi's official home in Delhi today, ahead of the oath ceremony.

Pabitra Margherita

Mr Margherita, 49, was a filmmaker, writer-producer, director and anchor of television shows in Assam before joining politics in 2014. He later became spokesperson of the Assam BJP.

Mr Margherita is known for Jonbai (2005), Tumi Mur Mathu Mur (2000), and Jonbai 2 (2006). He is married to actor Gayatri Mahanta. He was in charge of the BJP campaign in the 2021 Assam polls and the recently held Lok Sabha election.

Mr Margherita made it to the Rajya Sabha from Assam in 2022. He is also the political secretary to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. He is known to be a good speaker and multilingual.

Sarbananda Sonowal

Mr Sonowal, 61, was Union Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, and AYUSH in Modi 2.0. He was a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam since 2021, and of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs.

He is the 14th Chief Minister of Assam, from 2016 to 2021. Mr Sonowal earlier served as Assam unit chief of the BJP from 2012 to 2014, and again from 2015 to 2016. He has also served as Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs from 2014 to 2016, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and Skill Development, Lok Sabha MP from Lakhimpur, and earlier from Dibrugarh. He was a member of the Asom Gana Parishad from 2001 to 2011.

Mr Sonowal was the president of the state's oldest student body, the All Assam Students Union (AASU), from 1992 to 1999. After that, he became a member of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). In 2001, he was elected MLA from Moran constituency. In 2004, he became a Lok Sabha member representing the Dibrugarh constituency. He lost the Lok Sabha election from Dibrugarh in 2009. Thereafter, he joined the BJP in 2011.

Kiren Rijiju

Mr Rijiju, 53, won the Arunachal West Lok Sabha seat. He has come a long way from modest beginnings to a prominent leader in Indian politics. After graduating from Delhi's Hansraj College, he went on to study law in Delhi University to do LLB.

He joined the Congress and acted as an adviser to former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, despite a setback in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. With his comeback to the BJP, Mr Rijiju's career entered a new phase. Re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014, his role as an important representative for Arunachal Pradesh was further cemented by his re-election in 2019.

Mr Rijiju has held a number of key government roles during his career. He was Minister of State for Home Affairs from 2014 to 2019. He was subsequently appointed to the positions of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports, and Minister of State (Minority Affairs), and a stint as Law Minister. His appointment as Earth Sciences Minister in May 2023 emphasised his significance inside the national government.