13 ministers from South find place in Modi's Cabinet

More than a dozen parliamentarians from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu were inducted on Sunday in the Council of Ministers led by Prime Minister Modi, rewarding the BJP's coalition partners in the southern states.

JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, BJP leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous Cabinet, were among those who took oath. Union Minister of State in the previous Modi government, Shobha Karandlaje, and former minister in the state government V Somanna -- both from BJP -- were also sworn in.

Two TDP MPs -- K Rammohan Naidu and Chandrasekhar Pemmasani -- along with BJP's Srinivasa Varma were inducted from Andhra Pradesh. From Kerala, Suresh Gopi, the lone BJP Lok Sabha MP in the state, and senior party leader George Kurian became ministers for the first time. Kurian's inclusion despite not being an MP is seen as the BJP's attempt to reach out to the Christian community.

BJP leaders from Telangana -- Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar -- were also included in the Modi 3.0 government. From Tamil Nadu, L Murugan was included as Minister of State in the new government.