Agartala, Jun 09, 2024, By Our Correspondent
Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister of India for the third consecutive term this evening. The new Union Council of Ministers was also administered the Oath of Office and Secrecy by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Dr S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Pralhad Joshi, Giriraj Singh, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bhupender Yadav, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Annapurna Devi, Rajya Sabha MPs Nirmala Sitharaman and JP Nadda who is serving as BJP chief, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, were among those who took the Oath as Cabinet Ministers. BJP leaders Kiren Rijiju, Hardeep Singh Puri, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, G Kishen Reddy and C R Patil also took Oath as Cabinet Ministers
Besides, former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) MP H.D. Kumaraswamy, former Bihar Chief Minister and HAM party chief Jiten Ram Manjhi, JD(U) Rajiv Ranjan Singh, former Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal, BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh Dr Virendra Kumar, TDP MP Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, BJP MP from Odisha Jual Oram and LJP (Ramvilas ) Chief Chirag Paswan, were among others who were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers.
AIR correspondent reports that several leaders from neighbouring countries and the Indian Ocean region attended the swearing-in ceremony.
President of Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of Maldives Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, Vice-President of Seychelles Ahmed Afif, Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and Prime Minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay attended the ceremony.
Several dignitaries including Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister-designate N Chandrababu Naidu, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar attended the Swearing-in ceremony. Besides, actors Rajnikanth, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Vikrant Massey, film-maker Rajkumar Hirani, business tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, were also among those who attended the event.
Narendra Modi has become the first Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to be elected for a third straight term. He is the first-ever Prime Minister to be born after Independence. He has continuously served as the Prime Minister from 2014 for two terms. He also has the distinction of being the longest-serving Chief Minister of Gujarat with his term spanning from October 2001 to May 2014. Mr Modi was born on 17 September 1950, in a small town in Gujarat. In his initial years, he worked with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and later devoted himself to politics working with the BJP at the National and State levels. He completed his Masters in political science from Gujarat University. Mr Modi has ushered in a paradigm shift in governance that has led to inclusive, development-oriented and corruption-free governance, inspired by the motto of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’.
After the completion of the swearing-in ceremony of Union Cabinet Ministers, five MPs were sworn in as Ministers of State ( Independent Charge). BJP leaders Rao Inderjit Singh, Dr Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Prataprao Jadhav of Shiv Sena and RLD Chief Jayant Chaudhary took oath as Ministers of State ( Independent Charge).