Narendra Modi sworn in as Prime Minister for second time

Other big names who were sworn-in as cabinet ministers are Rajnath Singh — who retains home ministry — Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and Smriti Irani. Former foreign secretary S Jaishankar also included in the cabinet as a surprise pick.

New Delhi, May 30, 2019: Narendra Modi took over as the country’s Prime Minister for a second term on Thursday after he was sworn in along with other Union ministers, including Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and former foreign secretary S Jaishankar, a surprise pick.

Modi, 68, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan.

“Honoured to serve India!” tweeted Modi after taking the oath for the second consecutive term.

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Apart from Shah, Singh, Gadkari, the other top leaders who were sworn-in as Union ministers included D V Sadananda Gowda, Nirmala Sitharaman and Ram Vilas Paswan.

While the inclusion of Shah, seen as BJP’s key strategist who helped the party to expand its base after taking over the reins of the party in 2014, was much speculated, Jaishankar, considered close to Modi, was a surprise pick.
Some of the key ministers in the previous Modi government, including Sushma Swaraj, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, and Maneka Gandhi were not part of the new council of ministers.

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Others who took the oath of office included Narendra Singh Tomar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Thanwar Chand Gehlot, Ramesh Pokhriyal, Arjun Munda, Smriti Irani, Harsh Vardhan, Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Prahlad Joshi, Mahendra Nath Pandey, and Giriraj Singh.

Leaders of BIMSTEC countries including President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, President of Myanmar U Win Myint and Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering also attended the gala event.

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From Thailand, it’s Special Envoy Grisada Boonrach represented the country.

Besides India, BIMSTEC comprises Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan as members.

Kyrgyz President and current chair of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, and Mauritius PM Pravind Kumar Jugnauth also attended the event.

Copy Edited By Adam Rizvi

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