Narendra Modi, Cabinet Ministers to take oath on Thursday
NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take oath as the prime minister at 7 pm on Thursday (May 30) at the Rashtrapati Bhawan news agencyreported. Names of new ministers have been kept under wraps but President Kovind’s tweet indicated that PM Modi’s cabinet of ministers will join him in taking oath. The government has also not announced the guest list for the swearing-in ceremony.
In 2014, leaders of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) were invited and attended the ceremony – the list included Nawaz Sharif, who was then Prime Minister of Pakistan.
The President will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the Prime Minister and other members of the Union Council of Ministers at 7 pm on May 30, 2019, at Rashrapati Bhavan,
The swearing-in ceremony of members of the Union Council of Ministers will also take place on May 30. President Ram Nath Kovind will administer the Oath of Office and Secrecy to PM-elect Narendra Modi and the Union Council of Ministers on May 30, as per the official communique on Sunday.
On Saturday, PM Modi had met President Kovind and staked claim to form the NDA government for the second time after five years in power. Following this, President Kovind had appointed him as PM-elect and requested him to advise him on names of other legislators who will be appointed as Cabinet ministers. This was preceded by a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders calling on President Kovind and submitting a letter declaring Modi as their leader.
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, BJP won a resounding majority with 303 seats, with NDA winning a total of 353 seats out the 545 Lok Sabha seats. It’s opposition, on the other hand, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), won 91 seats, as Congress managed to post a victory in only 52 seats.
Speculations have been rife about NDA leaders who could possibly be named as Cabinet ministers, with rumours suggesting the PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah were keen to have newer faces in the council of ministers. However, there has been no official
confirmation regarding the names of the new Cabinet ministers. The PM and Mr Shah have so far not indicated a decision on the “Big 4” – Home, Finance, External Affairs and Defence.
A closely-watched call will be whether senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley will be retained as Finance Minister despite his poor health, or Railways and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal will be given the job of leading Asia’s third-largest economy. Mr Goyal, 54, had stepped into the role twice when Mr Jaitley was ill. Mr Goyal presented an interim budget before the election and a full budget is due after the new government takes office.
Smriti Irani, who was Textiles Minister, is expected to get a weighty reward for emerging as the BJP’s crown jewel of the election season by defeating Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.(With Agency Inputs ).
