Veil of secrecy on govt formation

Hectic parleys were held today on government formation involving Narendra Modi, BJP President Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders as also the RSS but there was a veil of secrecy in the exercise, triggering speculation on who gets key ministries.

The list of council of ministers, who will take oath along with Modi tomorrow evening, is expected to be conveyed to the Rashtrapati Bhawan by tomorrow morning.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley met senior RSS functionary Suresh Soni at the RSS head-office here.

Earlier in the day, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu met Modi to discuss the names of MPs of his party to be inducted in the new government. He had last night also met BJP chief Rajnath Singh.

Vizianagaram MP Ashok Gajapathi Raju's name is doing rounds as the TDP representative in the Modi government.

Amid hectic parleys, a host of leaders including Ghaziabad MP and former Army Chief Gen VK Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Ananth Kumar, Jagdish Mukhi and Sheohar MP Rama Devi met Rajnath Singh.

The swearing-in ceremony of Modi will take place tomorrow at 1800 hours in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The 15th Prime Minister of India will take oath in the presence of nearly 3,000 guests, including leaders from SAARC countries like Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

President Pranab Mukherjee will administer the oath of office and secrecy to 63-year-old Modi and his Council of Ministers in the presence of a host of leaders, including outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi besides leaders of various other parties and Chief Ministers of a number of states.