New Delhi, May 26 (IANS): With the setting sun forming a magnificent backdrop, India got a new prime minister Monday as Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi, 63, took oath Monday in a 90-minute, open-air, business-like ceremony in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace, attended by leaders of eight neigbouring countries.
Among the 4,000-strong guests at the epochal event were the Who's Who of India - politicians, business honchos, cinema stars, inter-faith leaders - as well as diplomatic representatives from over 100 countries.
The oath of office and secrecy including pledge of allegiance to the Indian constitution was administered in Hindi to Modi - who wore a off-white kurta-churidar and a fawn-coloured Nehru jacket - by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Modi becomes India's 15th prime minister, succeeding Manmohan Singh, who was at the event, along with his Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Modi is the first prime minister born in independent India -- and the second from Gujarat.
Modi, who led the BJP to a historic victory in the Lok Sabha battle, is expected to move to his South Block office at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Leaders of the members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries who were present included Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka, Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Abdullah Yameen of the Maldives as well as Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan, Tshering Tobgay of Bhutan and Sushil Koirala of Nepal. Bangladesh was represented by parliament speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.
Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam also attended the event. Their presence was a first for a prime ministerial inauguration.
Seconds after he took oath, the web site of the Prime Minister's Office carried his message to the people promising to "script a glorious future for India", one that is "strong, developed and inclusive" and that engages with the global community for the cause of world peace and development.
Modi said he was choosing his web site to deliver his first message to the people as he was a "firm believer in the power of technology and social media to communicate with people across the world" and a "very important medium of direct communication between us".
There was a certain poignancy to the momentous occasion as the inauguration of a new prime minister happened 50 years after the death of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on May 27, 1964.
Along with Modi, a 45-strong council of ministers that included 23 of the cabinet took oath. There were seven women in the ministry, including six in the cabinet.
Prominent ministers were BJP president Rajnath Singh, the first among ministers to take oath, Sushma Swaraj, the former Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Arun Jaitley, the former Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Najma Heptullah is the only Muslim in the cabinet.
The setting was in many ways unique. Contrary to earlier occasions when the short ceremony was held in the stately Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Modi, true to his style as a communicator, chose to have it in the open in order to be able to accommodate many more people, perhaps the largest such gathering for any prime ministerial swearing-in in India.
The ceremony was watched live across the nation and in world capitals, on TV and web casts. Those on the move could get a real-time feed from the social media.
As soon as the ceremony concluded, Modi met the visiting leaders, starting with a warm handshake with Nawaz Sharif. The leaders then posed for a photo-op with the new Indian prime minister, the president and Vice President Hamid Ansari.
With the reins of government passing to Modi, the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) formed a protective ring around him as his party colleagues and others jostled to congratulate the new leader. In the background, his supporters chanted slogans of "Bharat Mata ki Jai" and "Vande Mataram".
It was an amazing journey for the bespectacled and bearded Modi who sold tea in a railway station in Gujarat at a young age, before embracing politics, culminating in his becoming the leader of a country of 1.2 billion people.
As Monday's event ended, the entire vista of Rajpath, from the lighted fountains of Rashtrapati Bhavan, down Raisina Hill, leading up to India Gate was awash with lights, signifying the start of a new era.
Message from The Prime Minister (on PMO website)
Minutes after being sworn-in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday sought people's support and participation for India's journey to newer heights of development.
The message reads as follows:
"My dear fellow Indians and citizens of the world,
Namaste!
A very warm welcome to the official website of the Prime Minister of India.
On 16th May 2014 the people of India gave their verdict. They delivered a mandate for development, good governance and stability. As we devote ourselves to take India’s development journey to newer heights, we seek your support, blessings and active participation. Together we will script a glorious future for India. Let us together dream of a strong, developed and inclusive India that actively engages with the global community to strengthen the cause of world peace and development.
I envision this website as a very important medium of direct communication between us. I am a firm believer in the power of technology and social media to communicate with people across the world. I hope this platform creates opportunities to listen, learn and share one’s views.
Through this website you will also get all the latest information about my speeches, schedules, foreign visits and lot more. I will also keep informing you about innovative initiatives undertaken by the Government of India.
Yours,
Narendra Modi"
Team Modi
Cabinet ministers
Narendra Modi, LS MP from Gujarat and UP
Rajnath Singh, LS MP from UP
Arun Jaitley, RS member from Gujarat
Sushma Swaraj, MP from Madhya Pradesh
Nitin Gadkari, MP from Maharashtra
Venkaiah Naidu, RS MP from Karnataka
Sadananda gowda, LS MP from Karnataka - Bangalore North
Ram Vilas Paswan, LJP MP from Bihar
Gopinath Munde, BJP MP from Maharashtra
Kalraj Mishra, BJP MP from UP
Maneka Gandhi, BJP MP from UP
Ananth Kumar, BJP MP from Karnataka - Bangalore South
Ravi Shankar Prasad, BJP MP (RS) from Bihar
Ashok Gadpati Raju, TDP - AP
Ananth Geete, Maharashtra
Harsimrat Kaur, Punjab
Narendra Singh Tomar, MP from MP
Jual Oram, MP from Odisha
Thavarchand Gehlot, MP from MP
Smriti Irani, RS member from Gujarat
Uma Bharti, BJP MP from UP
Najma Heptullah, RS member
Radha Mohan Singh, RSS
Harsh Vardhan, BJP MP from Delhi
Ministers of State (Independent) - 10
General VK Singh, BJP MP from UP
Santosh Gangwar, BJP MP from MP
Sripad Naik, BJP MP from Goa
Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP RS member from Odisha
Sarbananda Sonowal, MP from Assam
Prakash Javadekar, from Maharashtra, not a Member of Parliament
Piyush Goel, RS member from Mumbai
Jitendra Singh, BJP MP from MP
Nirmala Seetharaman, from TN/AP, not a Member of Parliament
Rao Inderjit, BJP MP from Haryana
Ministers of State - 11
GM Siddeshwara, BJP MP from Karnataka
Manoj Sinha, BJP MP from UP
Upendra Kushwaha, BJP MP from Bihar
Radhakrishnan P, BJP MP from TN
Kiren Rijiju, BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh
Krishan Pal Gujar, BJP MP Haryana
Sanjeev Kumar, BJP MP from UP
Balyan Mansukhbhai Vasava, BJP MP from Gujarat
Raosaheb Dadarao Dhanve, BJP MP from Maharashtra
Vishnudev Sai, BJP MP Chhattisgarh
Sudarshan Bhagat, BJP MP Jharkhand