Rahul and Sonia to attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony tomorrow
New Delhi, May 29 (IBNS): Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi on Thursday, media reports quoting sources said.
For the second innings of the NDA government, a grand and elaborate arrangement has been made at the presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhavan where Modi and his ministers will take oath in the presence of world leaders.
Rahul and Sonia are supposed to attend the occasion despite Modi's severe attack on former Prime Minister, the late Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul's father and Sonia's husband, during the election campaign.
Modi had attacked Rahul Gandhi and said his father was 'Bhrashtachari No 1' (corrupt number 1).
"Your father was termed 'Mr Clean' by his courtiers, but his life ended as 'Bhrashtachari No 1' (corrupt number 1)," Modi had said at a rally in Uttar Pradesh.
Modi's comment was linked to the corruption allegations against former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi related to another defence deal - the purchase of Bofors guns in the 1980s.
However, Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991 by Sri Lankan rebels, had got a clean chit from the court in the Bofors case.
BIMSTEC leaders to attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony:
The Indian government has invited leaders of the BIMSTEC member states for the swearing-in ceremony.
BIMSTEC stands for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Its member states are: Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan and India.
"Government of India has invited the leaders of the BIMSTEC member states for the swearing-in ceremony. This is in line with the government's focus on its 'Neighbourhood First' policy. The President of the Kyrgyz Republic, who is the current chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Prime Minister of Mauritius, who was the chief guest at this year's Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, have also been invited," a government spokesperson said.
The ceremony will take place at 7pm on Thursday.
The NDA this time has a strength of 353 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The BJP alone has 303 MPs.
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