Grit beats heat at Raisina Hill

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his 54 member strong council of ministers took oath at the huge forecourt lawns of Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday that was filled up to the brim with 8000 guests, including special VIP invitees, heads of the state of BIMSTEC countries and who's who of Indian politics, industry and Bollywood.

The imposing structure of an all decked up Rashtrapati Bhawan in the background provided a spectacular and befitting aura to the grand event of oath taking ceremony that PM Modi earned for the BJP by securing a huge victory on 303 seats.

Despite scorching Sun beating heat at 44 degree celsius, the guests started arriving at 5:30 PM for the 7 O'clock event that continued for almost two hours. Among the first ones to arrive were Amit Shah along with members of the BJP, especially who were to be sworn in.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi arrived at 6:30 and were seated in the front row with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. While no one was there to represent West Bengal government, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, who also fought a bitter electoral battle with PM Modi were present.

As the evening descended in the forecourt, top notch industry honchos - Mukesh Ambani along with his wife Nita Ambani and son Anant, Ratan Tata, L N Mittal, Gautam Adani, Prashant Ruia and Anil Aggarwal walked in one by one for the grand ceremony. Close in tow were RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran, HDFC Deepak Parekh.

Drawing applause on their arrival were Bollywood stars like Asha Bhonsale, Karan Johar, Vivek Oberoi, Shahid Kapur, Sushant Singh Rajput and Kangna Ranaut.

Leaving the mingling part with guests for dinner, PM Modi arrived at 6:55 pm and was followed by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. President Ram Nath Kovind arrived at sharp 7 PM to administer sacrosanct oath of Constitution to the new government.