Modi's council of ministers

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Harsimrat Kaur, Akali Dal, Cabinet minister

The Akali Dal leader gets the food processing portfolio.

Daughter-in-law of Punjab Chief Minister Parakash Singh Badal, Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal is a prominent face of the party in Parliament.

Belonging to the powerful political family of Punjab, she was elected for the second time from Bhatinda Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections after defeating her husband Sukhbir Badal's cousin Manpreet Singh Badal.

Among the various issues on which Harsimrat has spoken in her first term in Parliament have been concerns related to victims of 1984 riots and matters related to Punjab.

Born in a family that traces its roots to Attar Singh Majithia, a prominent General in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army, 47-year-old Harsimrat graduated from Delhi University and pursued textile designing for three years after college.

A mother of two daughters and one son, Harsimrat has also been at the forefront of an initiative 'Nanhi Chhan' which aims to protect the girl child.

Her brother Bikram Singh Majithia is also an influential minister in the Punjab government.

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Narendra Singh Tomar, Cabinet minister

The BJP leader gets mines, steel, labour and employment portfolios.

From a municipal councillor to a Cabinet Minister in Narendra Modi government, Madhya Pradesh BJP chief Narendra Singh Tomar's rise in his political career has been quite significant.

56-year-old Tomar, who made his debut in the Union Council of Ministers, has held several important positions in the party and was instrumental in ensuring a third term for Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan besides a thumping victory for the party in the Lok Sabha polls.

Of the total 29 Lok Sabha seats in the state, BJP won 27.

Tomar, who is known for his connect with the rank and file of the party, shares a good rapport with the RSS leadership.

The second-time MP, who won Lok Sabha poll from Gwalior, made his first foray into active politics in 1980 after he became the President of the Gwalior unit of BJP Youth Forum.

The BJP loyalist gradually became a municipal councillor and the state President of BJPYF in 1991.

Tomar was twice elected as member of Madhya Pradesh Assembly between 1998 and 2008.

He served as Cabinet Minister in the state government between 2003-07 and was later tasked to head the state party unit in November 2006.

Tomar represented Morena constituency in the last Lok Sabha.

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Jual Oram, Cabinet minister

The BJP leader from Odisha gets the tribal affairs portfolio.

A firebrand tribal leader who created history by becoming India's first tribal affairs minister in the Vajpayee government, Jual Oram was a face saver for BJP in 2014 lok sabha polls being the party's lone winner from Odisha.

The 53-year-old BJP stalwart, who had a 6-year long stint in a public sector company before jumping into politics, prevented BJP from drawing a blank this time as in 2009 polls when he won from Sundagarh Lok Sabha constituency.

With his victory over former hockey captain and BJD nominee Dilip Tirkey at the hustings when the regional party swept the polls in Odisha, the four-time Lok Sabha member had brightened the prospects of finding a ministerial berth in Narendra Modi cabinet.

Oram, who had played a significant role in strengthening BJP's organisation in Odisha during his tenure as the state party unit president, had represented Sundargarh in Lok Sabha from 1998 but he lost in 2009 polls.

Hailing from a poor tribal family of a remote village in Odisha's Sundargarh district, Oram created history of sorts when he was made the first Tribal Affairs minister at the Centre.

For the first time, this ministry was created during the then BJP-led NDA government and Atal Bihari Vajpayee entrusted Oram with the job.

A lover of sports who always remained concerned for the welfare of the poor and downtrodden, Oram had worked for about six years in a public sector company with his diploma in electrical engineering before he decided to join politics.

Presently national vice-president of BJP, he has held several important posts including MLA and MP.

Popularly known as Juel Bhai, Oram happens to be a keen lover of tribal culture and traditions and has been playing a major role in proper preservation of indigenous life style in tribal dominated areas.

A tech savvy leader, Oram was in news for leading an agitation against a proposed iron ore mining in Khandadhar belt in Sundargarh pleading that it would jeopardise the interests of tribals.

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Radha Mohan Singh, Cabinet minister

The BJP leader gets the agriculture portfolio.

An unsung worker of Jan Sangh and BJP all his life, veteran leader Radha Mohan Singh finally got his reward for his years of toil when he found a berth in the Narendra Modi government.

Singh (64) started his career from Motihari in Bihar as an ABVP Nagar Pramukh way back in 1967.

Modi had given the first inkling of Singh likely to play a big role in the BJP-led NDA government by praising him profusely at an election meeting in Motihari.

"Radha Mohan Singh is my old friend. We have worked together for a very long time," Modi had said at the meeting.

A five-term MP from Motihari since 1989, Singh has been known as an organisational man all his political life and has been credited by peers and contemporaries in BJP for assiduously contributing to the party's growth in Bihar in the capacity of state unit chief from 2006 to 2009.

Recognising his efforts, the BJP leadership put more responsibilities on his shoulders by making him the party's Kisan Morcha Vice-President and incharge of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarkhand units.

His credentials as a man of organisation for all seasons got its final stamp from BJP chief Rajnath Singh who made the Motihari MP chairperson of the party's disciplinary action committee soon after taking over charge two years ago.

Singh's parliamentary career has been no less illustrious as he ably discharged his duties as a member of the Consultative Committee of the Communication Ministry and as a member of the Standing Committee on Industry and Mines during his first term as Lok Sabha MP between 1989-1991.

He also served as member of various committees on ministries of Railways, Communications, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Surface Transport and External Affairs during subsequent stints as MP.

An RSS Swayamsevak since childhood, he has actively worked towards welfare of the downtrodden and SC/STs.

A cricket enthusiast, the BJP MP was Vice President of the Association of Bihar Cricket.

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Inderjit Singh Rao, MoS independent charge

The BJP leader gets planning, statistics and programme implementation and defence (all independent charges).

Inderjit Singh Rao, 63, quit the Congress and joined the BJP few months before the elections were announced and successfully contested from Gurgaon defeating AAP leader Yogendra Yadav and his nearest Indian National Lok Dal rival.

A prominent Ahir leader, he was a member of the council of ministers in the UPA-I where he served as the Minister of State for Defence Production.

During his stint there, Singh pushed indigenous defence production and pushed prestigious DRDO projects including the Arjun tank and LCA.

He was not inducted in the government in the UPA-II amid reports that he had differences with the then Defence Minister AK Antony.

He has also served as Minister of State for External Affairs and chaired the Parliamentary Information technology committee after 2009.

A keen sportsman, he was a member of the Indian shooting Team from 1990 to 2003 and won a Bronze Medal at the Commonwealth Shooting Championship.