Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath for a third straight term as the head of the coalition government in a historic event held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday evening. Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S. Jaishankar—who held key portfolios in the previous government—were also sworn in as ministers.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Modi who equalled the feat of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to be elected for a third term in a row.
Seventy-two ministers, including 30 cabinet ministers, five with independent charge and 36 ministers of state, also took oath along with Modi. BJP president J.P. Nadda returned to the cabinet after five years, while former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and ex-Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar are the fresh faces in the cabinet.
BJP leaders Piyush Goyal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupender Yadav, who were earlier in the Rajya Sabha but have now been elected to the Lok Sabha, were among those retained as ministers. Former Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Virendra Kumar, Pralhad Joshi, Giriraj Singh and Jual Oram, all from BJP, were among those sworn in as ministers.
Among the allies of the BJP, which did not get a majority on its own this time, JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, HAM (Secular) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, JD(U) leader Lalan Singh and TDP's K Ram Mohan Naidu also took the oath of office as ministers.
Over 8,000 guests including celebrities and foreign dignitaries attended the swearing-in ceremony of the prime minister and his council of ministers.
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Bhutanese PM Tshering Tobgay, Bangladesh President Sheikh Hasina and Vice-President of Seychelles Ahmed Afif were among the special invitees.
Several opposition leader skipped the ceremony even as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was present.
Modi was elected the head of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government after two full tenures in which the BJP enjoyed a majority on its own. This time he retained power but with a surprising below-par show by the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls as its seat tally fell to 240 from 303, considerably short of the majority mark of 272. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) together won 293 seats, which is a comfortable majority.
