New Delhi: The grand swearing-in ceremony was attended by several Opposition leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
After the electoral rout, this was Mr Gandhi’s first public appearance.
Among those present were also former President Pratibha Patil, veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani, Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and spiritual guru Jaggi Vasudev.
The BJP had also sent invites to many of its social media warriors who were seen clicking selfies and photographs, with the majestic dome splashed in tricoloured lights in the background.
Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani, industry icon Ratan Tata, steel baron L.N. Mittal and Adani Group head Gautam Adani were among the who’s who of Corporate India present.
Movie stars including Rajinikanth, filmmaker Karan Johar, Shahid Kapoor, Boney Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut were also present.
Five minutes before 7 pm, clad in his trademark jacket and white kurta, Mr Modi arrived in his cavalcade as chants of “Modi, Modi” echoed across the forecourt.
The National Anthem played after President Ram Nath Kovind arrived. Amidst frenzied cries of “Modi, Modi”, “Har Har Mahadev” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, Mr Modi took the oath a couple of minutes after 7 pm for the second time to lead the nation.
After him, Rajnath Singh took the oath and loud cheers rang out as Amit Shah’s name was then called out. The other loud cheer to go up was for the BJP’s “giant killer” Smriti Irani, who took over the Gandhi turf of Amethi by trouncing Rahul Gandhi in the election. In Team Modi 2.0, there are 20 new faces including former Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda, the party’s Telangana leader G. Kishan Reddy, Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur and social activist and first-time MP from Odisha’s Balasore Pratap Sarangi.
