Narendra Modi 2.0 is here: PM sworn in at the largest ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in for his second term on Thursday in the grounds of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in what was the largest event that the President’s House has seen. Modi, who won with a massive mandate in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, invited heads of states of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Mauritius and Kyrgyzstan to attend his big crowning moment, which was witnessed in person by 8,000 people.

Among the guests at the ceremony were Chief Ministers and other political leaders from across the country, actors Rajinikanth, Kangana Ranaut, Anil Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Karan Johar, industrialist Anil Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani, spiritualist Jaggi Vasudev. The event was as much about officially bringing in a new government as celebrating Narendra Modi, the leader.

Soon after the Prime Minister, his Cabinet is being sworn-in, including the master strategist of the BJP Amit Shah, who is likely to helm the Finance Ministry, according to reports. A total of 50 ministers are being sworn in, including Rajnath Singh, Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitharaman, Sadananda Gowda, Pralhad Joshi, V Muralidharan, Smriti Irani, Kishan Reddy, Dr Harshavardhan, and Arjun Ram Meghwal.

Elaborate security and traffic arrangements were made by the Delhi police for the event. Madhur Verma, DCP, told ANI 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 informed ANI that around 8,000 to 10,000 police personnel along with traffic personnel have been deployed as a part of security arrangement.

Newly sworn in Andhra Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were among those who did not attend the PM's swearing in. While KCR and Jagan said that they faced ‘aviation issues’, Pinarayi Vijayan has not given any specific reason for not attending the ceremony. Mamata Banerjee refused to attend as a mark of protest against the BJP. She accused the BJP of using the ceremony to score political points.

Meanwhile no leader from the DMK attended the ceremony, as neither the party president MK Stalin nor any of the MPs from the party got an invite, according to party sources.