Ahmedabad: The stage is set for the swearing-in ceremony of Gujarat Chief Minister
designate Narendra Modi on December 22 along with his "token Cabinet" in presence of
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and other dignitaries.
About a lakh people will witness Modi being sworn-in, along with a team of hand
picked Cabinet colleagues. Party sources said nine ministers might be sworn-in as
part of the token Cabinet.
For the first time, the swearing-in ceremony has been shifted from the state capital
Gandhinagar to the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad, where a 15 feet high dais with
a lift for Vajpayee has been set up.
Commandos of the Special Protection Group, 1,500 police personnel and paramilitary
forces have been placed in a three-tier formation to ensure tight security.
Meanwhile, Congress has decided not to participate in the mega function as "the
state government has allegedly violated all the required norms for conducting the
ceremony", Amarsinh Chaudhary, leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly,
said on December 21.
Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president M Venkaiah
Naidu, Chief Ministers of about half a dozen states including Jayalalithaa (Tamil
Nadu), Om Prakash Chautala (Haryana), Mayawati (Uttar Pradesh), Mohan Parrikar (Goa)
and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farookh Abdullah are likely to grace the
occasion, according to state BJP president Rajendrasinh Rana.
The BJP, which won the polls with a massive mandate, has also decided to invite film
and television stars. Hema Malini, Juhi Chawla, Shekhar Suman and Union Minister of
State for Tourism Vinod Khanna would be attending the ceremony, which is open to
public.
Those who are likely to be inducted in the "token ministry" include former Ministers
Ashok Bhatt, Narottam Patel, Bharat Barot, Anandi Patel, Gordhan Jhadafiya and new
faces like chairman of Narmada Nigam Bhupendrasinh Chudasma and Amit Shah, who won
with the biggest margin of over 1.5 lakh votes.
PTI
