Sonia,Rahul & Manmohan Singh to attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony
NEW DELHI : United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh will attend Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony at 7 pm tomorrow at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Leaders of Bimstec countries will also be present at the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi as the prime minister. Apart from the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, chiefs of several regional parties have also been invited for the swearing-in ceremony.
Many international leaders and representatives of eight countries, including Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid will also participate in the swearing-in ceremony.
The family members of over 40 Bharatiya Janata Party workers (BJP), who were murdered in political violence in West Bengal in the past one year, have also been invited for the swearing-in of Narendra Modi.
In his first term in 2014, PM Modi had invited all the SAARC leaders, including the then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his swearing-in ceremony. Post his swearing-in tomorrow, PM Modi will embark on many foreign tours and his schedule is packed from June to August.
After that, he will be attending the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek on June 13-14 followed by the G-20 summit in Japan. In Japan, the PM is likely to meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of G-20 summit in Osaka.
In November 2018, PM Modi had visited the Maldives to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, after he defeated pro-China Abdulla Yameen in the presidential polls. Later, Solih visited India in December.
While the number and names of the leaders who would take oath tomorrow as ministers in the second stint of the NDA government have been kept under wraps, there is much speculation about the composition of the cabinet.
PM Modi and Amit Shah — who had a five-hour meeting yesterday — met again this evening for a three-hour session. While no details were available, the meetings are understood to be part of the process of finalizing the government portfolios.
While so far, the PM has met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, party chief Amit Shah has met Arjun Ram Meghwal, who was the junior minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Ram Lal, the BJP’s General Secretary of Organisation. Principal Secretary to PM Modi, Nripendra Mishra and Additional Secretary PK Mishra are also attending the sessions at Amit Shah’s residence.
The Prime Minister also visited senior leader Arun Jaitley, who wrote to him earlier today, saying he could not be part of the new government for now as he is under doctors’ orders to take care of his health. Mr Jaitley – who has been ailing for a while — had handled the finance portfolio and the Prime Minister is expected to ask him to reconsider his decision.
There might be some changes in the key ministries of home, finance, defence and external affairs. But sources indicated no major change is likely in the line-up after that and most ministers may stay on.
Some changes, though, are likely to be made to accommodate allies like Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United and the Akali Dal and also to ensure representation of Bengal, Odisha and the northeast – new zones that have embraced the party. Sources indicated that Nitish Kumar, the Bihar ally who acted as catalyst in the BJP’s massive victory in the state, has asked for two cabinet berths.
There has been speculation about Amit Shah joining the cabinet but many in the BJP say it cannot afford to lose his organizational skills at a time the party needs to win crucial state elections ahead and raise its numbers in the Rajya Sabha. (With Agency Inputs ).
