All lit up, Rashtrapati Bhavan hosts 8,000 guests for Modi's swearing-in ceremony

As the sun set over the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday, Narendra Modi and his council of ministers were sworn in for a second successive term with 8,000 people packing into the forecourt of the historic British-era presidential palace.

In a grand ceremony with overtones of a US presidential inauguration, heads of state and government, India Inc honchos, opposition leaders, BJP members and showbiz stars rubbed shoulders as they watched President Ram Nath Kovind administer the oath of office to India's 58 new ministers.

The two-hour swearing-in ceremony of Modi government 2.0 -- which created a splash, with the prime minister powering his party to a 303 victory in the 543-member Lok Sabha, and also a spectacle -- is the largest event to be held in Rashtrapati Bhavan, officials said.

It was India's Kodak moment for the political times with grandeur and pomp, ritual and glimpses of realpolitik and some history too.

The ceremony started at 7 pm, right on time, but the crowds had started filing in much earlier, taking their allotted seats and making conversation while millions watching the proceedings on TV and other screens speculated about who was who, who was there and who was not.

Soon, as minister after minister took oath with the president sometimes the strict teacher correcting some of them when they slipped up, dusk slipped into night and the lights came on over the panoramic Lutyenscape with the Rashtrapati Bhavan dome lit up in the tricolour.

Among those present were former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former president Pratibha Patil, veteran BJP leader L K Advani and even spiritual guru Jaggi Vasudev.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is adamant on his decision to quit office after his party's debacle in the hustings and hasn't been seen for some days, created a buzz when he walked in with his mother, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

NDA ally Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar was there too, making an entry shortly after his party announced it would not be part of the government.

The BJP was offering one cabinet berth to the JD(U) and sources said the regional party was also unhappy with the portfolio offered to it.

Leaders of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) countries, including Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, President of Myanmar U Win Myint and Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering also attended the gala event.

Kyrgyz President and current chair of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, and Mauritius PM Pravind Kumar Jugnauth also attended the event