13 South ministers add to Modi 3.0 gunpowder, show BJP's resolve
India TodayThe Bharatiya Janata Party has been making an all-out effort to make its way into Southern Indian states for some time now. In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's southern push, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has reaffirmed its 'Focus South' by including 13 ministers into his Union council from the five southern states. Irrespective of its electoral tally in the five southern states, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, PM Modi has inducted as many as 13 ministers into the Modi 3.0 from these states. From Telangana, where the BJP won 8 seats out of 17 Lok Sabha seats, Modi 3.0 will have two ministers. Although the BJP, led by Tamil Nadu's party president K Annamalai, could not open its account, key Cabinet ministries like External Affairs and Finance have been retained by Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, respectively, both of whom hail from the southern state.