Amit Shah India's new Home Minister, Jaishankar Foreign Affairs

NEW DELHI, May 31: Amit Shah has been given the Home Ministry, Rajnath Singh moved to Defence Ministry and Nirmala Sitharaman appointed the Finance Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet, according to a Rashtrapati Bhawan communiqué.

S Jaishankar, widely acknowledged as the surprise entry in this team, has been given the Foreign Ministry. The retired career diplomat was part of a troika with Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval that shaped foreign policy in the early years of the previous Modi government.

Jaishankar and Amit Shah are likely to be the new faces in the Cabinet Committee on Security. Nirmala Sitharaman, who was in the government’s top security panel by virtue of holding the defence ministry, will also be a member as finance minister. So will Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Piyush Goyal, the railways minister in the outgoing government has been given additional responsibility of the commerce ministry after Suresh Prabhu was dropped from the new cabinet.

Nitin Gadkari has retained the road transport ministry and Smriti Irani who had made a mark in the Lok Sabha elections by defeating Rahul Gandhi in the Congress bastion of Amethi has been given Women and Child Development, apart from the textiles ministry that she held in the previous government.

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has been appointed education minister in place of Prakash Javadekar who gets Environment as well as Information and Broadcasting.

President Ram Nath Kovind had last evening sworn in Modi and his 57-member council of ministers. In a tweet soon after, PM Modi had described his new team “a blend of youthful energy and administrative experience”.

Ex-diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri, a minister of state with independent charge, also gets the additional charge of civil aviation part from housing and urban affairs.

Veteran Ravi Shankar Prasad retains Law and Juctice; and Electronics and Information Technology. He also got the charge of communications. Harsh Vardhan will be health minister, Narendra Singh Tomar Agriculture apart from Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.

Modi has made sure that the team hits the ground running. Well before his first term ended, Modi – who was confident of his re-election – had ordered central ministries to start working on 100-day action plans that they will implement besides a 1,000-day agenda that will run up to the first half of 2022.

First decision dedicated to those who protect India, tweets Modi

NEW DELHI, May 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended the scholarship scheme for children of central armed forces to wards of state police personnel who lay down their lives in naxal and terrorist attacks. The government also enhanced the monthly scholarship for the children under this scheme from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 for boys and from Rs 2,250 to Rs. 3,000 for girls.

“Our Government’s first decision dedicated to those who protect India! Major changes approved in PM’s Scholarship Scheme’ under the National Defence Fund including enhanced scholarships for wards of police personnel martyred in terror or Maoist attacks,” Modi tweeted soon after the decision was taken at the first Cabinet meeting of the new government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the first meeting of his new cabinet, a day after the swearing-in ceremony.

Modi and his 57-member council of ministers were sworn-in yesterday. Earlier on Friday, the President allocated the portfolios to the new ministers even as PM Modi held back-to-back meetings with five foreign leaders including the visiting Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth.

Modi’s tweet came moments before he chaired his government’s first Cabinet meeting with his new team of 24 senior ministers. His team includes BJP president Amit Shah who has taken over as Home Minister, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Before heading for the cabinet meeting, many ministers formally took charge of their departments, among them were Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Culture minister Prahlad Singh Patel.

Modi takes oath as 16th Prime Minister of India

NEW DELHI, May 30: Narendra Modi was today sworn in as India’s Prime Minister for a second term in the presence of foreign leaders, top politicians and spiritual leaders at a ceremony loaded with symbolism and grandeur. Modi, 68, strode into the forecourt of the majestic Presidential palace, Rashtrapati Bhawan, just a little before 7 pm to a roar of applause.

The Prime Minister, who wore a beige Nehru jacket, was sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind just before sunset. His senior-most minister Rajnath Singh took oath immediately after him, followed by Amit Shah, BJP president. The national elections that Modi fronted along with master strategist Amit Shah delivered the Bharatiya Janata Party’s best-ever performance with 303 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha earlier this month.

Among others who have taken oath as ministers in the new central cabinet are BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari and DV Sadananda Gowda, ex-foreign secretary S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman.

BJP president and a confidant of Modi for two decades, Amit Shah, was the big entry in the new cabinet and is likely to be assigned the finance portfolio. Arun Jaitley, the finance minister in the outgoing government, had ruled himself out of the government due to health reasons.

“Honoured to serve India!,” Modi said in a message on Twitter that popped up as the ceremony began.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who has been insistent on stepping down from the party’s top post after leading it to a crushing defeat in the national election, was also at the swearing-in ceremony. Seated next to him on the front row is UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad.

BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are also seated with former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was also present.

Modi had first moved the oath ceremony in 2014 from one of the ceremonial halls in the presidential palace to the magnificent forecourt to accommodate an audience in thousands, not a few hundred.

Today, there was an audience of more than 6,000 and included leaders of BIMSTEC countries, Prime Minister of Mauritius and President of Kyrgystan. BIMSTEC member-states are Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand , Nepal and Bhutan.

Modi had again used his oath ceremony to signal the direction of his foreign policy when New Delhi invited leaders of BIMSTEC countries that covers all countries in India’s neighbourhood minus Pakistan.

8,000 guests to attend Modi’s swearing-in

NEW DELHI, May 29: Nearly 8,000 guests will attend the swearing-in of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday, making it the biggest-ever event held in the historic premises.

While the guests attending the event will be treated to high tea, President Ram Nath Kovind will host a private dinner for the leaders from Bimstec countries as well as Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth - who have all confirmed their presence.

“It will be the biggest-ever event at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. 8,000 people are coming,” said Ashok Malik, Press Secretary to the President, told IANS.

The size of the gathering is seen as a reflection of the massive mandate received by Modi government in the Lok Sabha elections. Both the BJP and NDA have improved their tally compared to 2014.

The swearing-in will be held in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the same venue as in 2014. The event then was attended by about 5,000 guests.

The high tea will have snacks, including samosas, and paneer items apart from sweets, while at the President’s dinner, the visiting foreign dignitaries will be treated to “Dal Raisina” - a special delicacy of the Rashtrapati Bhavan that takes 48 hours to cook - among other delicacies.

The Prime Minister will also attend the dinner, along with some officials.

With the swearing-in scheduled for 7 p.m., dinner will be light as it will be served a little late in the evening.

The dinner will have both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options and include soup, fish, chicken, vegetables and the “Dal Raisina” - a variant of popular ‘maa ki dal’.

“It is a speciality of our kitchen. Its special recipe was developed here in Rashtrapati Bhavan. It takes 48 hours to prepare. The process of preparing it started on May 28 and it will be ready by tomorrow (Thursday),” Malik said.

The Bimstec leaders attending the event include Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Myanmarese President U Win Myint, Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering.

Thailand will be represented by its Special Enovy Grisada Boonrach.

The event will also be attended by leaders of political parties, Ambassadors and diplomats and celebrities from various fields.

Sheila Dikshit asks Rahul not to resign as ‘Rahul don’t quit’ chorus gets louder

NEW DELHI, May 29: Senior Congress leader Sheila Dikshit met Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday in her effort to stop him from resigning. Senior Congress leaders and allies have been trying to persuade Rahul Gandhi to continue to lead the party that is struggling after a crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

“I have given him the message that he should not resign. We want him to continue on his post, otherwise it will cause us pain. We have conveyed that to him,” Sheila Dikshit was quoted as saying after the meeting

Sheila Dikshit led a group of Congress workers to the 12, Tughlaq Lane house of Rahul Gandhi to meet him to persuade him to change his mind.

Rahul Gandhi said at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Saturday that he had decided to step down as party president, a post he took over from his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in 2017.

Gandhi has stayed firm on his decision to quit after the poll debacle despite several party leaders’ urgings to reconsider his decision. The party won only 52 Lok Sabha seats and its governments in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan face an uncertain future.

“We are going to be near the residence of Rahul Gandhi and will demonstrate there to convey our feelings that he should not resign. The party will suffer a very heavy loss which we don’t want. We are going there to plead with him to not do this,” said Sheila Dikshit.

BJP gets big victory with leads in 341 seats

NEW DELHI, May 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Thursday saying ‘India wins yet again’ after his Bharatiya Janata Party was leading ahead in 345 seats as votes were being counted for the Lok Sabha elections.

Narendra Modi said in a tweet:

Together we grow.

Together we prosper.

Together we will build a strong and inclusive India.

India wins yet again! #VijayiBharat

Many more rounds of counting will happen, but as leads mirrored projections by many exit polls that predicted a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a big win, the Sensex soared to the 40,000-mark for the first time ever.

Soon after it became clear that the BJP was set to come back for another term, the PM’s colleagues took to Twitter to wish him, leading the charge was Sushma Swaraj. She congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thanked the people on the BJP’s “big victory” in the Lok Sabha polls.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed the win “historic” and credited it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “astute” leadership and party chief Amit Shah’s “dynamism”.

A major contribution to the BJP’s mega performance today has come from the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, which the party had swept in 2014 but lost to the Congress in assembly elections recently.

Will take everyone along, even opponents: Modi after big win

NEW DELHI, May 23: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday promised to devote “every moment” of his time and “every fibre” of his being for the people of India and said the country will now have only two castes -- the poor and those who want to alleviate poverty.

In a rousing speech at the party headquarters here to celebrate the BJP’s spectacular victory, Modi told cheering supporters that the election has thrown up a mandate to build a new India.

“People are chanting Modi, Modi. But this is not a victory of Modi, it is the victory of people who are desperate for honesty in the system.

“It is not Modi’s victory, but a win of people’s hope and aspirations,” Modi said.

Striking a conciliatory political tone, he also reached out to his rivals, urging everyone to put the rancour of the bitter and often nasty campaign behind them. What’s past is past, he said. “We have to move ahead. We have to take everyone with us, even our opponents. We have to work for the benefit of the country,” he said.

“You have filled this fakir’s bag with a lot of hope. All your hopes, dreams, ambitions are dependent on it,” he said. This is the victory of toiling farmers who struggle to feed the nation, this is the victory of those who now live in proper houses, this is the victory of the middle class which follows the rules, pays taxes, but wondered if his taxes were being used for the benefit of the country, he said.

In the last five years, people have realised that the money they are contributing in taxes has been put to nation-building, he said.

Addressing the countrymen directly, Modi said he will not do anything with bad intention, even though, he added, he may at times commit a mistake on job. “I will not do anything for myself,” he said, signalling the noisy crowd to keep quiet and then added, “I will devote every moment of my time and every fibre of my being for my countrymen.”

“Whenever you judge me, judge me on these three parameters. If I fall short on these, curse me. But I assure my countrymen that what I have said in public I will do my best to fulfil,” he said. Values and spirit of democracy and the Constitution enjoin his government to take everyone along as the country is run with consensus, he said.

In a jibe at BJP’s rivals, who are seen as the secular counter to the saffron party’s Hindutva agenda, he said people who used to proudly wear a “fake tag” of secularism did not talk about it at all.

“The opposition did not dare to mislead the country while wearing the false mask of secularism. The opposition did not accuse us of raising prices. All previous elections were fought on corruption issues. This was the first one in which any political party could not level even one charge of corruption,” he said.

People in the 2019 elections have put forth a new narrative, he said, adding that only two “castes” will remain in the country; the poor and those contributing to alleviating poverty.

Voters have dealt a huge blow to the parties doing politics in the names of castes, he said.

The prime minister said the verdict has vindicated his view that it was not parties but people who fought this election. Modi also drew a Mahabharat war parallel with the elections. Krishna was asked after the war which side he supported and he answered that he stood for Hastinapur, and people have spoken in the elections that they stood for India, the prime minister said.

“We were not disappointed when we won only two seats (in 1984). We will not leave our humility, ideals and values when we have come back to power,” Modi said.

Love never loses, we will emerge stronger: Rahul Gandhi after poll defeat

NEW DELHI, May 23: Congress president Rahul Gandhi congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for their victory in the Lok Sabha polls as he conceded defeat, saying he accepted the people’s mandate.

Gandhi took “100% responsibility” for the defeat while clarifying that a decision on whether he will step down from the post of the party’s president will be taken at a meeting of the party’s working committee, the highest decision-making body. “The decision will be between me and the working committee,” he said.

The Congress separately denied reports that Gandhi had offered his resignation. “Reports of the resignation of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president are mischievous and incorrect,” the party said in a statement.

The working committee meeting is scheduled to be held on Saturday, according to people aware of the development.

“First of all, I want to congratulate Narendra Modi and the BJP. I heartily thank the workers and candidates of our Congress party who fought with all their heart,” he said at a press briefing on Thursday. His sister and Congress general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, was among those who accompanied Gandhi at the briefing.

Gandhi called the Lok Sabha election campaign a battle of ideologies between the two parties. “Our battle is the fight of ideology. There are two different thoughts – one [of] Narendra Modi ji and the BJP’s and the other of the Congress. There are two different views but we have to admit that Narendra Modi and the BJP have won,” he said.

Gandhi congratulated his rival, Smriti Irani of the BJP, for winning his family pocket borough of Amethi, which he lost after winning it since 2004. “I would like to congratulate Smriti Irani ji for winning. Amethi’s people have given their verdict and I respect that,” he added. In 2014, Gandhi had defeated Irani by a margin of about 100,000 votes in Amethi.

Gandhi emerged victorious from Kerala’s Wayanad seat.

The Congress president thanked party workers for their hard work and effort. “I want to tell them and all those people in India who believe in the Congress’s ideology that do not be scared, have faith and we will work and sort this out in the time to come. Love never loses, and I am certain that we will emerge stronger and work better... love will guide us.”