Who Are Vande Bharat Loco Pilots Aiswarya Menon and Surekha Yadav, Invited For Modi's Swearing-In?

Aiswarya S Menon, a senior assistant loco pilot from the Chennai Division of Southern Railway, will be among the 8,000 special guests at the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his new government on June 9, according to officials.

Menon has an impressive record, having completed over 200,000 footplate hours piloting various trains, including the famed Vande Bharat Express and Jan Shatabdi, reported NDTV. She has been commended for her agility, alertness, and thorough knowledge of railway signaling.

Menon, who currently works on the Vande Bharat trains, has been a pivotal part of the Chennai-Vijayawada and Chennai-Coimbatore routes since their inception. Her achievements and contributions have earned her accolades from senior railway officials, highlighting her excellence in her field.

Joining her at the ceremony will be Surekha Yadav, Asia's first woman loco pilot. Yadav, who pilots the Vande Bharat train from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to Solapur, is among ten loco pilots invited to the event. She made history by becoming India's first female train driver in 1988 and continues to break barriers as the first woman loco pilot of the semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express.

The swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan will also host a diverse group of special guests, including sanitation workers, transgenders, and laborers who contributed to the Central Vista Project.

With VVIPs from around the world expected to attend the event, the security arrangements have been tailor-made to fit the prerequisite protocol for each head of state. The hotels which will accommodate the dignitaries have also undergone enhanced security measures.

BJP fell short of numbers to form the government on its own as it got restricted to 240 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. However, the saffron party didn't waste time to dial its NDA allies and staked claim to form the government. TDP and JD(U) have emerged as 'kingmakers' in the Modi 3.0.