Srinagar, May 30 : The incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being sworn-in for the second straight term this evening. The oath will be administrated by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Earlier, several rounds of meeting were held between PM Modi and his close aide Amit Shah who is also BJP president to discuss and finalize the new team of ministers.
Arun Jaitley, former Union Finance Minister has decided not to take active responsibility in the new government. Jaitley in a letter to PM Modi said he had been suffering from ailments for the past 18 months and that he had also spoken to the PM before his Kedarnath trip about his decision to opt out of the new Cabinet.
“After the campaign had concluded and you were leaving for Kedarnath, I had orally informed you that even though I was able to discharge the responsibilities assigned to me during the campaign, I would in near future, for some time, like to keep away from any responsibility. This will enable me to concentrate on my treatment and health,” he wrote in the letter.
Top sources in the BJP said that many new leaders will be inducted as ministers in the second term.
The opposition leaders including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, JD(S) leader and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and AAP Supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been invited for the swearing-in ceremony.
Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and President of Kyrgyzstan, Sooronbay Jeenbekov arrived New Delhi to attend Modi’s oath ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The government had said the leaders of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan-had been invited to the swearing-in. Several Bollywood actors including Rajinikanth, Kangana Ranaut, Anil Kapoor, Anupam Kher and Karan Johar are among celebrities who are attending the ceremony.
Reports said that elaborate security and traffic arrangements have been put in place by the State Police.
Madhur Verma, DCP said they have put in three-layer security arrangements in place for the swearing-in ceremony. “The first layer is of VIP security as well as Rashtrapati Bhawan, followed by a layer of Delhi Police. Apart from security arrangements, we have coordinated arrangements with traffic also.”
Verma also said that around 8,000 to 10,000 police personnel along with traffic personnel have been deployed as a part of security arrangement.
