Political veterans and debutants, business leaders and showbiz stars, almost everybody who is anybody in India, and many who are not... more than 8,000 people packed into the Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt on Sunday as Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister for a third consecutive term.
As the blazing sunny day dulled into a warm evening, the swearing-in ceremony of the Modi 3.0 government unravelled against the backdrop of the magnificent sandstone dome of the columned presidential palace lit in saffron, white and green.
It was the final chapter of a 44-day election that saw the Modi-led BJP come to power with 240 seats, more than 60 seats less than 2019, and now dependent on its allies in the NDA.
There were bugles, ceremonial guards, flowers and all the trappings of a grand spectacle as President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office.
But the political overtones dominated them all.
The list of potential ministers was analysed and speculated on endlessly to see which allies would be accommodated, how many from the partner NDA parties -- particularly from the TDP and the JD-U, which together won 28 seats -- which leader would be repeated, which of the newbies would get a berth.
Among the allies, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, HAM (Secular) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, JD(U) leader Lalan Singh and TDP's K Ram Mohan Naidu took the oath of office as ministers.
And while there were the seniors, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, who were sworn in, there were also fresh faces such as former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
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