New Delhi, May 27 – Narendra Modi was sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India a short while ago. In a grand ceremony at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday evening, President Pranab Mukherjee administered oath of office and secrecy to Modi and his Cabinet ministers.
Among the Cabinet Ministers who took oath just after PM Modi were BJP chief Rajnath Singh, Leader of Opposition in the 15th Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, former BJP chiefs Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, former Karnataka CM DV Sadananda Gowda, former MP Chief Minister Uma Bharti, former deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha Najma Heptulla,
former Maharashtra Deputy CM Gopinath Munde, former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, former Uttar Pradesh Minister Kalraj Mishra, former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, former Union Minister Ananth Kumar, former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, senior TDP leader Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Shiv Sena leader and former Union Minister Anant Geete,
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Narendra Singh Tomar, Odisha BJP leader and former Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, Bihar BJP MP Radha Mohan Singh, Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Thawar Chand Gehlot, actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani and Delhi BJP leader Harsh Vardhan.
The Ministers of State who took oath on Monday included General (retired) Vijay Kumar Singh, Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh, former Union Minister Santosh Gangwar, Goa BJP leader Shripad Naik, Odisha MP Dharmendra Pradhan, Assam MP Sarbananda Sonowal, BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Prakash Javadekar, party’s National Treasurer and Rajya Sabha member Piyush Goyal,
Jammu and Kashmir BJP leader Dr. Jitendra Singh, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman, Karnataka BJP leader GM Siddeswara, Ghazipur MP Manoj Sinha, Ganganagar MP Nihalchand Chauhan, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha, Kanyakumari MP Pon Radhakrishnan,
Arunachal Pradesh BJP MP Kiren Rijiju, Faridabad MP Krishan Pal Gujjar, Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Baliyan, Gujarat MP Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava, Maharashtra BJP MP Raosaheb Dadarao Danve, BJP MP from Raigarh in Chhattisgarh Vishnu Deo Sai and Jharkhand MP Sudarshan Bhagat.
The venue was packed with more than 3,500 dignitaries, including the heads of Saarc countries, including Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Nepal PM Sushil Koirala, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Maldives’ President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
Others included Vice-President Hamid Ansari, former PM Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and other important political leaders. Chief Ministers of several states, including the newly-inducted Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, were also present.
Among the Bollywood personalities, Salman Khan, his father Salim Khan, Hritik Roshan and actors who are also MPs, like Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Hema Malini, etc, were also present. Earlier in the day, singer Lata Mangeshkar had sent a letter to Narendra Modi apologising for not being able to make it to his oath-taking ceremony and wished him all the best.
Industrialists Mukesh Ambani and his family members and Gautam Adani among others were also present. The biggest oath-taking ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan ever since Independence had three bands to provide the musical accompaniment.
Earlier in the day, Modi had tweeted: “A big thank you to all friends who will be viewing the ceremony on TV and through social media. Your constant support and blessings mean a lot.” “I am glad and honoured that people from all walks of life will join the swearing in ceremony. I welcome them,” Modi had added in his tweet.
-INDIA TODAY
