After a grand oath taking ceremony that saw guests from around the world to witness the swearing-in of the 15th Prime Minister of India, the new PM announced the portfolio of ministers that saw an unprecedented number of women representation in the Cabinet.
Although women leaders account for 11 percent of all Lok Sabha MPs, they fare better when it comes to representation in the Cabinet.
On Monday, six women were sworn in as senior ministers, accounting for 25 percent of the Cabinet. They were: Sushma Swaraj, Maneka Gandhi, Najma Heptulla, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Uma Bharti and Smriti Irani.
However, when it came to the ministers of state, the number of women dropped dramatically as there is only one Minister of State with independent charge, Nirmala Sitharaman, senior BJP leader and spokesperson.
Women in Modi's cabinet also comprise of both experienced and new. Incidentally, both the youngest and the oldest in the cabinet are women – Smriti Irani and Najma Heptullah respectively.
The women in the cabinet also ensured that both saffron and green were adequately represented in their dress during the oath-taking ceremony on Monday.
Uma Bharti wore her trademark saffron dress. Nirmala Sitharaman and Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur also wore saffron colour attire.
According to reports, Sitharaman did not know about her cabinet status until Monday morning. She reportedly received a call from Gujarat Bhawan saying she was given the cabinet berth with independent charge.
Harsimrat Kaur, who has been given the portfolio of Food Processing Industries, wore an off white salwar kameez with saffron border and bright saffron dupatta. As she took her oath, she used the dupatta to cover her head in sign of respect.
Meneka Gandhi (Women and Child Development minister) and Najma Heptullah (Minority Affairs) wore green sarees balancing others' saffron attires.
Narendra Modi was sworn in as the Indian PM in a massive, never- seen-before ceremony in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday. All eyes were glued to the television sets and online news portals as the much talked-about ceremony was taking place.
Earlier in the day, the official list of Modi's council of ministers was sent to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. There were over 4,000 guests invited for the grand swearing-in ceremony, from various countries across the globe. However, the focus on Monday's ceremony was on the 8 delegations from India's immediate neighbors and SAARC countries.
