Modi signs into country’s history as 15th PM

New Delhi, May 26: Narendra Damodardas Modi, the man who in a stunning political blitzkrieg led his party BJP to a record victory in the Lok Sabha elections, was today sworn in as 15th Prime Minister of the country at a historic ceremony in the forecourts of the majestic Rashtrapati Bhawan.
All eyes were fixed on Mr Modi, when the charismatic leader from Gujarat, dressed in white kurta pyjama and sporting a beige waist coat, was called to come to the podium to take oath, which was administered by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Mr Modi took the oath in Hindi. The gala event which for the first time had participation of foreign heads of state among about 3,000 distinguished guests was attended by a galaxy of leaders from different walks of life and was watched live on TV by millions across the country and beyond.
The BJP under his leadership secured 282 seats, absolute majority, the first by any political party in the Lok Sabha elections in the last 30 years.
Along with Mr Modi, members of his ministry also took oath. These include Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Sadananad Gowda, Uma Bharati, Najma Heptullah, Gopinath Munde, Ram Vilas Paswan, Kalraj Mishra, Maneka Gandhi, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ashok Gajpati Raju, Anant Geethe, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Narendar Singh Tomar, Jula Oram, Radha Mohan Singh, Thawar Chandra Gehlot, Smriti Irani and Dr Harsh Vardhan.
The SAARC leaders, who attended the event, were Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Maldives President Abdullah Yameen and Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Togbay. Bangladesh was represented by Parliament Speaker Ms Shirn Shermin Chaudhary as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is away on a visit to Japan. Mauritius prime Minister Naveen Ramgoolam was also present.
The ceremony was also attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and members of the previous Council of Ministers besides chief ministers, governors and the Chief Justice of India, R M Lodha.
Two former presidents of the country, APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil, also attended the event.
Top business and industry leaders and prominent Bollywood stars, artistes and poets also made it to the gala event.  (Agency)