New Delhi: Marking the beginning of a new era in Indian politics, Narendra Modi on Monday was sworn in Prime Minister at the head of a 45-member coalition government after the elections threw the first government with absolute majority in 30 years.
63-year-old Modi, the first leader to get a landslide majority for BJP on its own, became the 15th prime minister in a virtual 'coronation' ceremony in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan before a 3000-strong gathering, the largest audience at the swearing in a of new government.
Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Uma Bharti, Maneka Gandhi, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani and Harsh Vardhan were among those who were sworn in as Cabinet ministers.
Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP), Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Akali Dal), Anant Geete (Shiv Sena) and Ashok Gajapathi Raju (TDP) were those from allied parties who took the oath on Monday.
Dignitaries from politics, industry, cinema and religion, capped by leaders of SAARC nations including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, watched Modi take the oath of office and secrecy in Hindi.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his ministerial colleagues P Chidambaram, Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel and Pallam Raju, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, senior BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, outgoing Speaker Meira Kumar, former Presidents Abdul Kalam, Pratibha Patil were among those who attended the ceremony.
Differences during elections melted away before protocol as opponents including Mulayam Singh Yadav, his son and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, J and K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda were present at the ceremony.
Top industry figures like Mukesh Ambani and his family, his brother Anil, Kumarmangalam Birla, Sashi Ruia, Gautam Adani and V N Dhoot, film stars Salman Khan along with his father Salim Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Dharmendra and Anupam Kher, lyricist Javed Akthar were present along with a clutch saffron-robed seers including Pejawar Mutt chief Vishwendra Teertha Swamy. Cricketing great Sunil Gavaskar was also present.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, whose effigy was burnt some kms away in the morning, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Mauritius President Naveen Chandra Ramgoolam were the other foreign dignitaries present at the ceremony.
At the end of the 90-minute swearing-in ceremony, Modi shook hands with all the heads of governments from abroad after the President took a group photograph with the new council of ministers.
Modi also exchanged greetings with the outgoing PM.
Shortly later, it was all disorder as the gathered crowd sought to greet the new PM that led to pushing around.
The other BJP MPs, who were sworn in as cabinet ministers were Gopinath Munde, Sadanand Gowda, Kalraj Mishra, Najma Heptullah, the lone Muslim face, Narendra Singh Tomar, Jual Oram, Radha Mohan Singh and Thawar Chand Ghelot.
Former Army chief Gen V K Singh was inducted into the council of ministers as Minister of State with independent charge along with nine others. They are Rao Inderjit Singh,
Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Shripad Naik, Dharmendra Pradhan, Sarbananda Sonowal, Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goel, Jitender Singh and Nirmala Seetharaman.
12 other ministers of state were inducted. They are G M Siddeshwara, Manoj Sinha, Nihal Chand, Upendra Khushwaha, Pon Radhakrishnan, Kiren Rijiju, Krishen Pal, Sanjiv Kumar Baliyan, Mansukhbhai Vasava, Rao Saheb Danve, Vishnudev Sai and Sudarshan Bhagat.
- Narendra Modi swearing-in: Guests assembled at Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul in attendance
- Arun Jaitley at President House forecourt to attend Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony
- MM Joshi at Rashtrapati Bhawan forecourt to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony
- Dr Manmohan Singh with wife Gursharan Kaur at President House to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's oath ceremony
- Carrying message of peace, Pak PM Nawaz Sharif arrives at Rashtrapati Bhavan to participate in this mammoth democratic exercise
- LK Advani at President House to attend Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony
- PM-designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony : Guests at President House forecourt
- PM-designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony: Rajnath Singh at President House
P Chidambaram at Rashtrapati Bhawan forecourt to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony
TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu at President House forecourt to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony
Uddhav Thackeray & Aditya Thackeray at President House forecourt to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's oath ceremony
Mukesh Ambani & Nita Ambani at President House forecourt to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's oath ceremony
Amit Shah and Ram Madhav at President House forecourt to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's oath ceremony
Sharad Pawar & Praful Patel at President House forecourt to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's oath ceremony
Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif greets APJ Abdul Kalam at PM-designate Narendra Modi's oath ceremony
Bhutan’s PM Lyonchen Tshering Tobgay at President House to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's oath taking ceremony
SL President M. Rajapaksa at President House forecourt to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony
Maldives President Abdulla Yameen at President House to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony
Mauritius PM Navin Ramgoolam at President House to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai at President House to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony
Nation heads, industrialists, top leaders arrive at Rashtrapati Bhavan to attend Narendra Modi swearing-in
India's next Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Rashtrapati Bhavan to be sworn in
President of India Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan to swear in Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi takes oath as India's Prime Minister
un-Supported MediaPresident Pranab Mukherjee greets PM Narendra Modi after the latter takes oath
Rajnath Singh sworn in as Cabinet minister
BJP veteran Sushma Swaraj sworn in as Cabinet minister
Arun Jaitley takes oath as a Minister
Vankaiah Naidu sworn in as Cabinet minister. What can he get?
Nitin Gadkari takes oath as Cabinet minister
Sadananda Gowda takes oath as minister
Uma Bharti takes oath as minister, any guesses what portfolio she will get?
Najmah Heptullah takes oath as Cabinet minister
Gopinath Munde takes oath as Cabinet minister
Ram Vilas Paswan takes oath as Cabinet minister
Kalraj Mishra sworn in as minister
Delhi: Maneka Gandhi takes oath as a Minister
Ananth Kumar takes oath as a Minister
Ravi Shankar Prasad takes oath as a Minister
Ashok Gajapati Raju takes oath as minister
Anant Geete takes oath as a Minister
Harsimrat Kaur Badal takes oath as minister
Narendra Singh Tomar take oath as Modi's minister
Jual Oram takes oath as Narendra Modi's minister
Radhamohan Singh takes oath as Cabinet minister
Smriti Irani takes oath as Cabinet minister
Thawarchand Gehlot takes oath as Cabinet minister
Dr. Harsh Vardhan takes oath as a Minister
Minister of State, Independent Charge, V K Singh sworn in
Rao Inderjit Singh takes oath as Minister of State
Santosh Kumar Gangwar takes oath as minister of state
Dharmendra Pradhan takes oath as minister of state
Sarbananda Sonawal takes oath as minister of state
Prakash Javdekar takes oath as minister of state
Piyush Goyel takes oath as minister of state
Jitender Singh takes oath as minister of state
Nirmala Sitharaman takes oath as minister of state
G M Sidhheshwar takes oath as minister of state
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Manoj Sinha takes oath as minister of state
Nihal Chand takes oath as minister of state
Upendra Kushwaha takes oath as minister of state
Pon adhakrishnan take oath as minister of state
Kiren Rijiju takes oath as minister of state
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Vishnudev Sahai takes oath as minister of state
PM Narendra Modi greets Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif after the swearing-in ceremony
Uma Bharti says she gets Water Resources and Ministry for Ganga cleaning
This is the first time such high profile leaders of the SAARC nations attended an Indian Prime Minister’s swearing-in ceremony. Guests included Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa among various others.
Sharif, who was accompanied by a delegation comprising his Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry among others, arrived at the technical Air Force base in Palam.
Before his departure from Lahore, he said: "Pakistan wants good relations with India and I am going to New Delhi with a message of peace".
Adopting the principle of “minimum government and maximum governance”, PM Narendra Modi spent the past four days finalising his dream team that would prove to be “organic”, with fewer ministers.
Modi has worked out a “smart governance” formula in which “top layers of government will be downsized and there would be expansion at the grassroots level,” said a release from Gujarat Bhavan, where Mr Modi has been holding a series of meetings with the BJP top brass and NDA leaders.
Watch Modi's swearing-in ceremony:
