New Delhi, May 25 (PTI): Hectic parleys were held on Sunday on government formation involving Narendra Modi, BJP president Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders as also the RSS, but there was a veil of secrecy in the exercise, triggering speculation on who gets key ministries.
The list of council of ministers, who will take oath along with Modi on Monday evening, is expected to be conveyed to the Rashtrapati Bhawan by Monday morning.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley met senior RSS functionary Suresh Soni at the RSS head office here.
Earlier in the day, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu met Modi to discuss the names of MPs of his party to be inducted in the new government. He had last night also met BJP chief Rajnath Singh.
Vizianagaram MP Ashok Gajapathi Raju's name is doing rounds as the TDP representative in the Modi government.
Amid hectic parleys, a host of leaders including Ghaziabad MP and former Army chief Gen VK Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Ananth Kumar, Jagdish Mukhi and Sheohar MP Rama Devi met Rajnath Singh.
The swearing-in ceremony of Modi will take place on Monday at 6pm in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The 15th Prime Minister of India will take oath in the presence of nearly 3,000 guests, including leaders from Saarc countries like Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
President Pranab Mukherjee will administer the oath of office and secrecy to 63-year-old Modi and his council of ministers in the presence of a host of leaders, including outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi besides leaders of various other parties and chief ministers of a number of states.
Karnataka, Kerala Cong CMs to skip Modi's swearing-in, Jaya keeps up suspense
Congress chief ministers of Karnataka and Kerala are not attending tomorrow's swearing-in of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister while there was suspense on whether Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will participate amid reports that she has decided to boycott it.
In Bangalore, officials said Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will skip the oath-taking ceremony in Delhi tomorrow.
According to schedule released by the Chief Minister's office for tomorrow, Siddaramaih will be attending several programmes in the city.
Wishing Modi the all the best, Siddaramaih had last week hoped of cooperation from the center adding that irrespective of party affiliations the union government should work in accordance with the Constitution and respect the federal set up.
In Thiruvananthapuram, officials said Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is not attending the swearing-in ceremony, citing pre-scheduled engagements in the state.
According to officials in the Chief Minister's Office, Chandy had received the invitation for the ceremony but informed Modi about his inability to be present on the occasion due to "pressing" engagements in the state.
Chandy, a senior Congress leader, will be meeting Modi during his next visit to Delhi, they said. Senior BJP leader O Rajagopal termed Chandy's decision to skip the ceremony as "unfortunate".
Jayalalithaa, who has opposed participation of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, today kept up the suspense over her participation in the ceremony. There were reports that she is likely to boycott it.