PM Modi to swear in today, country fastens seat belt for Modi 2.0
New Delhi, May 30 (IBNS): A week after registering a landslide victory in the electoral battle, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Narendra Modi will be swearing in as the Prime Minister while the entire nation is ready for Modi 2.0.
Modi, who was appointed to the Prime Minister's Office by President Ram Nath Kovind on last Saturday, will take oath at the Rashtrapati Bhavan at 7 pm. President Kovind will administer the oath.
Along with Modi, his cabinet ministers will also take oath.
Who are the invitees?
Members of the BIMSTEC member-states-Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan- are scheduled to attend the event.
President of Bangladesh Md Abdul Hamid, his Sri Lankan counterpart Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Ministers of Mauritius and Nepal Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and KP Sharma Oli respectively will grace the function.
According to an Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesman, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, U Win Myint, President of Myanmar, Dr Lotay Tshering, Prime Minister of Bhutan; and Grisada Boonrach, Special Envoy of Thailand have also confirmed their participation during the special occasion.
Congress top brass Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will be among the opposition leaders who will be attending the event. In total, around 8000 people have been invited.
However, Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik, Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Odisha respectively, will not attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony. Banerjee, making a U-turn from her previous decision, on Wednesday said she won't attend because the BJP is politicising it by inviting the family members of slain saffron party workers to the same event.
The oath-taking ceremony is an august occasion to celebrate democracy, not one that should be devalued by any political party pic.twitter.com/Mznq0xN11Q
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 29, 2019
Patnaik, who took oath as the Chief Minister a day ago, said he will be occupied with the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected members of the 16th Odisha Assembly.
Modi pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Narendra Modi started the day by offering homage to the Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Who might get berths in Modi's cabinet?
Modi and BJP president Amit Shah are currently discussing the cabinet of the new government. Though nothing has been informed yet, some media reports said SAD leader and MP Harsimrat Badal may also join the cabinet of Narendra Modi government.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said his party colleague Arvind Swant will join Narendra Modi's cabinet.
It remains to be seen how much representation the various alliance partners get in the Modi cabinet and how the BJP tackles the demands for more ministries from various partners.
Arun Jaitley opts out of Modi cabinet
Former Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday opted out of the new BJP-led NDA government over health issues. However, Jaitley offered all kinds of assistance to both the government and party. He wrote a letter to the Prime Minister urging him to spare for now.
I have today written a letter to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, a copy of which I am releasing: pic.twitter.com/8GyVNDcpU7
— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) May 29, 2019
Following the letter, Modi had met Jaitley but the topic of discussion is unknown.
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