Sonia, Rahul to attend Modi's swearing-in; Who else would be there at the grand ceremony
New Delhi, May 29: Congress President Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will attend the swearing-in of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister for the second time after the BJP secured a thumping win in the Lok Sabha elections, said reports.
President Ram Nath Kovind will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the prime minister and other members of the Union Council of Ministers at a ceremony on Thursday at 7pm.
The two Congress leaders are among those invited by the prime minister to the ceremony. They have accepted the invite, a PTI report said.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy would also attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's oath ceremony tomorrow.
"Congress party will attend the oath taking ceremony for sure. Elections were a matter between 2 ideologies, 2 parties but the oath ceremony is of a Prime Minister. PM is of the entire country. We expect him to treat all people of the country equally," said senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.
[PM Narendra Modi's Swearing-in Ceremony: Date, Time, Venue, Guests- All You Need you to Know]
"I have received the invitation for the PM's swearing-in ceremony tomorrow. I will attend it. We need to have a cordial relation with the central govt if Puducherry wants to move forward. This is the first step towards it," said Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy.
Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel will not able to attend to ceremony. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will also not join his party leaders at the event.
"I want to congratulate PM Modi. Due to prior commitments, I will not be able to go for his oath ceremony tomorrow. I have sought time from PMO to meet him later," Baghel said.
[Kin of BJP workers killed in Bengal violence invited to PM Modi's swearing-in]
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen patnaik will also give the ceremony a miss. The BJD leader, who was sworn in on Wednesday, had invited Modi to Bhubaneswar. But the prime minister did not attend the event. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday had said she would be attend the ceremony, citing 'constitutional duty'. But a day later, she withdrew after the BJP invited the family of its workers killed during poll violence in the state.
[Arun Jaitley opts out of new Cabinet, cites health reasons]
The
event
will
also
be
attended
by
leaders
of
political
parties,
Ambassadors
and
diplomats
and
celebrities
from
various
fields.
Apart
from
Rahul
Gandhi
and
Sonia
Gandhi,
senior
Anand
Sharma,
actor
Rajinikanth,
Karnataka
Chief
Minister
HD
Kumaraswamy,
Delhi
Chief
Minister
Arvind
Kejriwal,
Telangana
Chief
Minister
K
Chandrasekhara
Rao
and
Andhra
Pradesh
Chief
Minister-elect
YS
Jagan
Mohan
Reddy
are
among
those
who
will
also
be
attending
the
event.
Steel
magnate
L.N.
Mittal
is
also
expected
to
be
present.
Among
those
who
will
skip
the
ceremony
are
Mamata
Banerjee,
Kerala
Chief
Minister
Pinarayi
Vijayan
and
DMK
Chief
MK
Stalin.
Chhattisgarh
CM
Bhupesh
Baghel
and
Rajasthan
CM
Ashok
Gehlot
will
also
not
be
atteding.
The swearing-in-ceremony of Modi and his Council of Ministers is scheduled to take place on Thursday at 7 PM at Rashtrapati Bhavan. A number of heads of states, heads of governments, constitutional authorities, diplomats, senior political leaders, government officials and media persons are scheduled to attend the ceremony.