Narendra Modi likely to take oath as PM on 28 May

Modi's 2014 swearing-in ceremony was a grand affair, attended by representatives of all SAARC nations as well as celebrities from the cinema world.

Narendra Modi being sworn in as Prime Minister in 2014 | Commons

New Delhi: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi striding back to power with a staggering mandate, the anticipation is now on when his government would be sworn in.

According to highly placed sources in the party, the oath-taking ceremony could take place by the middle of next week — 28 May is the likely date.

In the last Lok Sabha polls, while the counting took place on 16 May, PM Modi and his cabinet ministers took oath on 26 May.

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2014 swearing-in was grand affair

The 2014 swearing-in ceremony was a grand affair, attended by then heads of state, heads of government or representatives of all eight South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations — a first in India.

Then Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, Nepal PM Sushil Koirala and then Maldives president Abdulla Yameen were among those to attend.

If there were national and international heavyweights who added heft to the oath-taking event, there were celebrities from the world of cinema who added a dash of glamour. Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi attended the ceremony, as did veterans Dharmendra and Anupam Kher.

No such plans this time around

This time, however, no such plans have been put in place yet, sources, who did not wish to be identified, said.

Also anticipated is the constitution of the cabinet as well as portfolio allocation. With BJP president Amit Shah making his national electoral debut by winning the Gandhinagar seat by a margin of over 5.5 lakh votes, his entry into the cabinet is expected, sources said.

The BJP, which won 282 seats the last time, surged past its earlier tally to cross the 300 mark in this Lok Sabha election, riding on brand Modi, an aggressive national security narrative, garnished with a dose of its welfare initiatives. Not only did the party manage to retain most of its earlier base, it also entered new ones, most notably in West Bengal and Odisha.