45 ministers likely in Narendra Modi cabinet

New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) Narendra Modi was Monday set to take oath of office as India's 14th prime minister along with 45 ministers, including key leaders Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj and former army chief V.K. Singh, informed sources said.

The list has been dispatched to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the sources added.

There would be 24 cabinet minsters which would include former BJP presidents Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu, senior party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, LJP's Ramvilas Paswan, Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan and former union minister Maneka Gandhi, they said.

There will be ten ministers of state with independent charge, including former Army chief V.K. Singh and BJP MPs Santosh Gangwar, Prakash Javdekar and Piyush Goel.

The 11 ministers of state include Upendra Kushwaha, Kiran Rijju and Sanjeev Kumar.

Ahead of the oath-taking ceremony, scheduled at 6 p.m. at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Modi had indicated he would not like to have a large cabinet, and that the focus would be on consolidation of portfolios.

"Keeping our commitment to 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance' -- we have made an unprecedented and positive change in ministry formation," the prime-minister-in-waiting had tweeted late Sunday.

"Various assembled ministries will be transformed into organic ministries for quicker pace of work and better coordination between departments. This is a step towards smart governance and will give us added strength to fulfil aspirations of the people."