Narendra Modi govt 2.0 takes oath of office at Rashtrapati Bhavan; Amit Shah gets home ministry, Rajnath Singh bags defence

[caption id=“attachment_6731801” align=“alignnone” width=“940”] Narendra Modi was on Thursday sworn in as the prime minister for a second term helming a 58-member ministry with BJP chief Amit Shah making his debut at the Centre and former foreign secretary S Jaishankar emerging as a surprise pick, while party veteran Sushma Swaraj was among the outgoing ministers who found no place. PTI[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_6731761” align=“alignnone” width=“940”] Wearing a beige Nehru jacket, Modi, 68, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony just before sunset at the forecourt of the majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan, capping a landslide win for the BJP which won 303 of the 542 LS seats. PTI[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_6731771” align=“alignnone” width=“940”] Besides 25 Cabinet ministers including Modi, Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal and Jaishankar, nine were sworn in as Minister of State with Independent charge and another 24 as Minister of State. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_6731781” align=“alignnone” width=“940”] “Honoured to serve India!” tweeted Modi after taking the oath. Portfolios for the new ministers were not announced amid reports that Shah may get the finance portfolio and Rajnath would retain the home ministry. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_6731941” align=“alignnone” width=“940”] While the inclusion of Shah, seen as BJP’s key strategist who helped the party expand its base after taking over the reins of the party in 2014, was the subject of intense speculation since the party’s spectacular victory on 23 May, Jaishankar, considered close to Modi, was a surprise pick. PTI[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_6731931” align=“alignnone” width=“940”] Smriti Irani, who earned the tag of ‘giant killer’ for defeating Congress chief Rahul Gandhi at his home turf in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, was among the six women ministers. PTI[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_6731881” align=“alignnone” width=“940”] DV Sadananda Gowda, Narendra Singh Tomar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Ramesh Pokhriyal, Arjun Munda, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Prakash Javadekar, Dharmendra Pradhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Pralhad Joshi, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Giriraj Singh and Gajendra Shekhawat were the other BJP leaders who were made cabinet ministers. PTI[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_6731821” align=“alignnone” width=“940”] Leaders of BIMSTEC countries including President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid, Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena, Nepal prime minister K P Sharma Oli, President of Myanmar U Win Myint and Bhutanese prime minister Lotay Tshering also attended the gala event. Dignatories from Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius also attended. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_6731871” align=“alignnone” width=“940”] This is the second time Modi took the oath at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Modi was sworn in by the then President Pranab Mukherjee in 2014 in the presence of over 3,500 guests including the heads of SAARC countries. PTI[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_6731911” align=“alignnone” width=“940”] As the sun set over the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the two-hour-long swearing-in ceremony commenced with over 6,000 people packing into the forecourt of the historic British-era presidential palace. In a grand ceremony, with overtones of a US presidential inauguration, heads of state and government, chief ministers, India Inc honchos, opposition leaders, BJP members and showbiz stars rubbed shoulders as they watched President Kovind administer the oath of office. PTI[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_6731921” align=“alignnone” width=“940”] With Modi pledging ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas’ mantra, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Cabinet’s lone Muslim face, will have the responsibility of winning the hearts of minorities and taking forward the ‘development without appeasement’ policy. PTI[/caption]