Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi, who will take oath for his second consecutive term on Thursday, started his day with a visit to Rajghat, Sadaiv Atal Samadhi and National War Memorial. The oath ceremony will take place in the evening at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Modi reached the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi at 7 am and paid his respects, before heading to Sadaiv Atal Samadhi, the lotus-shaped memorial dedicated to late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Amit Shah and several other senior BJP leaders were with Modi at the memorial built last year after the veteran BJP leader’s death.
Modi’s next stop on Thursday morning was the National War Memorial, a monument near India Gate dedicated to soldiers killed in service of the nation.
According to a PTI report, snipers had been deployed atop specific structures as Modi visited the three monuments.
On Tuesday, had spent three long hours with BJP chief Amit Shah discussing his future cabinet. There has been much speculation about the composition of the NDA-2 cabinet, as the number and names of ministers who will take oath today have not been divulged.
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Exactly a week ago, on May 23, results of the Lok Sabha Election 2019 were declared, giving BJP a historic mandate to return to power with full majority. While the BJP bagged 303 seats, the party-led National Democratic Alliance won 352 of the total 542 seats that went to polls.
The swearing-in ceremony will begin at 7 pm in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, and nearly 8,000 guests are scheduled to attend the event. Among the guests will be leaders of BIMSTEC countries, namely Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.
Many chief ministers, party leaders, industry leaders, diplomats, ambassadors, celebrities and Opposition members will be present too. The Congress has confirmed that party president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will attend the swearing-in. More than 100 non-resident Indians will be there too, according to reports.
Among the chief ministers not attending the swearing-in ceremony are West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who has accused the BJP of falsely claiming that 54 of its workers were killed in political violence in her state and then inviting their families to the event.
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik won’t be there too as his office has said he was required to be in the state for the oath taking ceremony of the newly elected BJD MLAs.
The PTI report said over 10,000 security personnel from the Delhi Police and paramilitary forces had been deployed for the swearing-in ceremony, while over 2,000 others would secure the route PM Modi and foreign dignitaries would take to travel to the venue.