Anurag Thakur, Smriti Irani among key ministers dropped from Modi 3.0 cabinet

Smriti Irani had lost the Lok Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi by over 1.6 lakh votes to Congress loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma.

Anurag Thakur, Smriti Irani and Narayan Rane were among key ministers that were dropped from Modi 3.0 cabinet.

"I am a party worker first. The people of Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh have elected me to the Lok Sabha for the fifth consecutive time. Being elected to the Lok Sabha for the fifth time is itself a great honour," Thakur told reporters in Delhi when asked if he would be getting some key responsibility in Himachal Pradesh as he is not being inducted into Modi's new council of ministers.

Smriti Irani had lost the Lok Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi by over 1.6 lakh votes to Congress loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma. She was Women and Child Development Minister in the second term of the Modi government. She had defeated Congress's Rahul Gandhi in his family bastion five years ago.

Irani, who secured multiple positions in Modi 1.0 and Modi 2.0, has been left out from Modi 3.0 after her defeat from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by a margin of 167,196 votes to Congress loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma. There are, however, speculations that she could be brought in as a Rajya Sabha member.