Venkaiah Naidu to represent PM Modi at Nitish Kumar's oath, 9 CMs to be present
Bihar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted the invitation of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to be present at the swearing-in ceremony of his new government on November 20, but will not be able to make it to the event due to prior engagements.
Kumar talked to the PM over telephone and extended his invitation for the oath-taking function at Gandhi Maidan at 2 PM on November 20, sources in the Chief Minister's office said.
The PM has decided to depute Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu to represent the Union Government at the ceremony on Friday, which would be a gala event with Chief Ministers of nine states attending it.
Bihar BJP vice-president Sanjay Mayukh told PTI that due to his "prior fixed programmes" the PM would not be able to attend the ceremony. He said Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of State (Independent Charge) Rajiv Pratap Rudy would represent the Union government at the swearing-in function.
The Chief Minister's Office released a list of guests attending the November 20 ceremony, which includes Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, former PM H D Devegowda, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, his National Conference counterpart Farooq Abdullah and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
The official guest list has names of nine Chief Ministers, including West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav.
In a bid to showcase the Bihar victory on a large scale, six CMs of Congress ruled states would attend the swearing in function at Gandhi Maidan on Friday.
They include Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Assam CM Tarun Gogoi, Sikkim CM P K Chamling, Manipur CM O Ibobi Singh and Arunachal Pradesh CM Nabam Tuki.
The swearing in ceremony of the new Bihar government of secular alliance comprising JD(U), RJD and Congress would showcase unity of parties opposed to BJP.
Leader
of
Opposition
in
Rajya
Sabha
Ghulam
Nabi
Azad
would
also
be
present
at
the
ceremony.
The
Bihar
elections,
which
leaders
used
to
claim
would
change
the
course
of
national
politics,
promise
to
present
a
mega
picture
of
opposition
unity
ahead
of
the
crucial
Winter
Session
of
the
Parliament
later
this
month.
Sources in the CMO in Patna said Nitish Kumar gave a personal touch to the invitations by telephoning all leaders and requesting them to come for the event.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and D Raja are among the confirmed guests for the function.
T M K Stalin of the DMK party has also confirmed his participation. BJP ally Shiv Sena has accepted invitation and decided to send two Maharashtra ministers Ram Das Kadam and Subhash Desai to the function.
The
event
would
be
graced
by
former
Jammu
and
Kashmir
CM
Omar
Abdullah,
Sheila
Dixit,
Bhupendra
Singh
Yadav,
Ajit
Jogi,
Babu
Lal
Marandi,
Hemant
Soren
of
the
JMM
and
Shankar
Singh
Baghela.
President
of
National
Lok
Dal
Ajit
Singh
and
former
Union
Minister
and
NCP
leader
Praful
Patel
would
also
be
present
on
the
occasion.
Abhya Chautala of the INLD, BBM leader Prakash Ambedkar, former MP Ram Jethmalani, Raj Babbar and H K Dua are among the confirmed guests in the list. Along with these guests from across the country, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his JD(U) counterpart Sharad Yadav would also be present at the ceremony.
PTI