In a dramatic twist, almost 17 hours after defence minister Rajnath Singh was left out of six of eight meaty Cabinet committees, the government released a revised list adding his name to four panels amidst buzz that he had threatened to quit. When the PIB released its first list at 5.57 am, the defence minister’s name figured in only the security and economic affairs committees. Home minister Amit Shah was the only minister in all Cabinet committees.

It was widely read as reducing the clout of Rajnath, who otherwise is second in the order of precedence in the government. By late night, 10.19 pm to be precise, Rajnath’s name was added to four more committees: parliamentary matters; political affairs; investment and growth; and employment and skill development. It created a better balance in the teams.

The only two committees in which his name does not figure are on the appointment, which has always had only the prime minister and the home minister as members, and on accommodation. The political affairs panel, as the name suggests, takes all important political decisions. Rajnath had headed the parliamentary affairs committee in Modi 1.0. The panel recommends dates for holding parliament sessions.

The newly-constituted committee on political affairs comprises, besides Rajnath, senior NDA members like Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman, Narendra Tomar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsh Vardhan, Piyush Goyal, Pralhad Joshi and allies Ram Vilas Paswan, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Arvind Sawant.

Here is the latest list of the members of the committees:

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs

Cabinet Committee on Accommodation:
Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs
Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance; Minister of Corporate Affairs
Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Minister of Commerce and Industry

Special Invitees:
Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region; Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and Minister of State in the Department of Space Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing &Urban Affairs; Minister of State (I/C) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence
Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs
Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance; Minister of Corporate Affairs
Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Minister of Rural Development: and Minister of Panchayati Raj.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology; and Minister of Law and Justice.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of Food Processing Industries.
S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs
Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Minister of Commerce &Industry
Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Steel.

Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs:
Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence
Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs
Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance; Minister of Corporate Affairs
Ramvilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Minister of Rural Development, and Minister of Panchayati Raj.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology; and Minister of Law and Justice
Thawar Chand Gehlot, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment
Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Minister of Information and Broadcasting
Prahlad Joshi, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of Coal and Mines.

Special Invitees:
Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
V. Muraleedharan, Minister of State Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs

Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence
Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs
Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance; Minister of Corporate Affairs
Ramvilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture &Farmer Welfare, Minister of Rural Development: and Minister of Panchayati Raj.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology; and Minister of Law and Justice
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of Food Processing Industries.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Health and Family Welfare; Minister of Science and Technology; and Minister of Earth Sciences,
Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Minister of Commerce and Industry
Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise
Prahlad Joshi, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of Coal and Mines.

Cabinet Committee on Security:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence
Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs
Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs.
S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs.

Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence
Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs
Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Minister of Micro. Small and Medium Enterprises
Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs.
Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce and Industry.

Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence
Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs.
Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs
Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Minister of Rural Development: and Minister of Panc'ayati Raj.
Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce and Industry
Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Minister of Human Resource Development
Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas: and Minister of Steel
Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of Skill Development and Enterpreneurship
Santosh Kumar Gangwar, MOS(I/C)Labour and Employment
Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State(I/C) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Minister of State(I/C) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Special Invitees:
Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of Food Processing Industries.
Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister of Women and Child Development and Textiles
Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) Culture, MOS (I/C) Tourism.