NEW DELHI : Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister for his third successive term at an impressive ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday evening with 71 MPs from the BJP and its allies joining the party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to PM Modi and members of his ministers team at the ceremony which was attended by leaders from India’s neighbourhood and Indian Ocean region.
The colourful event, which reflected the rich diversity and vibrancy of India, was attended by senior political leaders, diplomats, leading industralists, Bollywood actors and several other prominent personalities.
Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Bhutan PM Tshering Tobgay, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, Seychelles Vice President Ahmed Afif and Bangladesh PM Sheik Hasina attended the swearing-in ceremony of PM Narendra Modi.
PM Modi’s oath-taking ceremonies have seen special foreign policy outreach. He began his first term in office in 2014 in presence of all Heads of States of SAARC nations. He invited BIMSTEC leaders at the start of the second term in 2019.
The council of ministers is a blend of youth and experience with senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar taking oath of office. Several young leaders from BJP and allies, including first-time MPs, also made it to the council of ministers. Actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, who is the first BJP MP from Kerala and Harsh Malhotra, who won Lok Sabha polls from East Delhi, are among the first-time MPs in the union cabinet.
BJP chief JP Nadda also took oath as union minister in an indication that the party could have a new chief.
PM Modi’s ministers’ team has 30 Cabinet ministers, five Ministers of State with Independent charge and 36 Ministers of State. Most of MPs took oath in Hindi while some took it in English.
Allies of BJP in party-led NDA including JD-U and TDP joined the union government during the swearing in ceremony and Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy was the first among the BJP’s partners to take oath of office and secrecy.
The four leaders who took oath after PM Modi – Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and JP Nadda – all have been former BJP chiefs.
The Union cabinet also has four former chief ministers – Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Manohar Lal Khattar, HD Kumaraswamy and Jitan Ram Manjhi.
The BJP leadership sought to strike a balance in terms of state, regional and caste and community representation.
The MPs greeted President Murmu and PM Modi after taking oath as union minister.
Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar were members of Cabinet Committee on Security in the previous BJP-led NDA government as they held portfolios of defence, home, finance and External Affairs respectively.
Bollywood personalities present at the swearing in included Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Raveena Tandon, Vikrant Massey, Rajkumar Hirani, Mahaveer Jain and Rajinikanth. Industralists Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani and Kumar Mangalam Birla also attended the swearing in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant Ambani was also present.
Aactor-turned-politicians Kangana Ranaut and Hema Malini, both of whom are BJP MPs, were also present.
HD Kumaraswamy took oath of office after PM Modi and several senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and JP Nadda had taken oath of office.
The second leader among BJP’s allies in National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to take oath of office was also a former Chief Minister – Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader and former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.
While Janata Dal (Secular) JD(S) won only two seats in the Lok Sabha polls, Manjhi is the only representative of his party in the Lok Sabha.
Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan Singh) of JD-U and Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) took oath of office after Kumaraswamy and Manjhi.
Both TDP and JD-U are crucial allies of BJP in NDA government. TDP has 16 MPs and JD-U has 12 MPs in the Lok Sabha.
Among other leaders from among BJP’s allies who took oath of office were Chirag Paswan of LJP (Ram Vilas) and Jayant Chaudhary of Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Kumaraswamy, Manjhi, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Ram Mohan Naidu, Chirag Paswan and Jayant Chaudhary took oath as cabinet ministers.
NCP did not join the government on Sunday with its chief Ajit Pawar stating that they did not think it right for their party leader Praful Patel to accept the charge of Minister of State with independent charge as offered by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as he had served as a Cabinet Minister earlier during the UPA government.”Praful Patel has served as a cabinet minister in the central government and hence we did not feel right in taking Minister of State with independent charge,” Pawar told the media.
BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won its third succesive term in results of Lok Sabha polls declared on June 4. The NDA won 293 seats in the Lok Sabha polls with BJP getting 240 seats.
A meeting of union cabinet is likely to take place at 5 pm tomorrow. (ANI)