Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Sunday, becoming only the second PM after Jawaharlal Nehru to secure a third consecutive term.
Seventy-two ministers, including 30 cabinet ministers, five with independent charge and 36 ministers of state, also took oath along with Modi.President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to them.
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 dignitaries and special invitees who attended the swearing-in ceremony of the prime minister and his council of ministers.
Along with Modi, who took oath in the name of God, senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S. Jaishankar were sworn in as cabinet ministers, indicating the Prime Minister’s emphasis on continuity and experience as they also held senior positions in his second term.
Party 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 were the fresh faces in the Modi 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.
Those present on the occasion included Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, TDP president Chandrababu Naidu, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan.
