Narendra Modi To Be Sworn-in As 15th PM Of India: Report

New Delhi, May 25, IRNA -- Narendra Modi, who led Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) to an landslide victory in the Lok Sabha polls, will be sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister Monday evening at Rashtrapati Bhawan (Presidential Palace) at a grand function to be witnessed by government heads and leaders of eight countries. The heads of government of all South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries except Bangladesh are attending the event in a signal that the countries in the neighborhood were keen to script a new chapter in bilateral relations with a Modi-led government. It is the first time leaders from the SAARC had been invited for the swearing-in of an Indian prime minister. Ambassadors and high commissioners of countries present in the capital are being invited, again in a first for an oath-taking. The swearing-in ceremony of the 15th Prime Minister of India would be attended by nearly 3,000 guests, including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Besides Sharif and Rajapaksa, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom will be among the foreign dignitaries attending the ceremony, pti reported. Bangladesh will be represented by Speaker Shirin Chaudhury as Premier Sheikh Hasina would be travelling to Japan at the time of the swearing-in ceremony. President Pranab Mukherjee will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the 63-year-old Modi and his Council of Ministers in the presence of a host of leaders, including outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, besides leaders of various other parties and Chief Ministers of a number of states. Modiˈs mother Hiraba is also expected to attend the ceremony. Known for his decisiveness and governance skills, Modi will be heading the first government in 30 years where a single party has the absolute majority. It has been a remarkable journey to the top during which he has been pilloried by his critics and adored by his supporters who believe he will pull India out of the rut in which it is stuck. ˈI believe God has chosen me,ˈ Modi had said in the course of his relentless and focused election campaign that got BJP its highest-ever tally of 282 seats, 10 more than the required majority number in the 543-member Lok Sabha, and catapulted the Gujarat Chief Minister to the pinnacle of power. The BJP leader himself saw a combination of a very strong anti-Congress wave ˈtogether with an equally strong wave for BJP and its NDA partnersˈ during the marathon campaign and seized upon these to decimate the UPA. A ground-to-air security cover on par with the Republic Day parade is being put in place for the swearing-in. The elaborate security arrangement at Rashtrapati Bhavan for hosting Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modiˈs swearing-in tomorrow will also see a ˈcrackˈ unit of infantry trained-canines deployed for conducting anti-sabotage checks and sanitising the venue. Union Home Ministry, which is coordinating the security plan with various agencies for the VVIP-event tomorrow evening on the Presidentˈs Estate, has called in a specially-trained squad of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) dogs to secure and sanitise Rashtrapati Bhavan. Officials said that MHA had asked for the elite ˈK9ˈ dogs of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, who have earlier secured the CWG games venues and been part of infantry patrols in Naxal-affected areas and insurgency-prone operational theaters in the country. About a dozen dogs have been pressed into service from today along with their handlers and they will conduct their task till tomorrow, they said. More than 6000 security personnel will keep a hawk-eyed vigil even as a ground-to-air security system at par with the one placed during the Republic Day parade has been put in place for the ceremony. IAF has put in place an air defense system to secure the skies. Anti-aircraft guns have been placed at classified locations. Snipers will be deployed at all high-rise buildings around the high-security area hours before the ceremony begins at 1800 hrs IST at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Narendra Damodardas Modi was born on 17th September 1950. A member of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), was Chief Minister of Gujarat state from 2001 to 2014./end