In a splendid ceremony, Narendra Modi was sworn in as the prime minister of India on Monday at the presidential palace in New Delhi after having a great victory in the elections. With this ended the Gandhi – Nehru dynasty rule of two terms. The inauguration ceremony was witnessed by millions of Indians on television as Modi – 63 and his cabinet ministers took oath in the forecourt of the palace. Boy of a low caste tea stall owner, he had the first single parliamentary majority since the last decade of coalition governments. This means that he has a good space for improving the reforms that were started almost two decades ago.
A large number of supporters see him as counterpart of Margaret Thatcher (British leader) and Ronald Reagan (former U.S. neo – liberal president). A number of leaders were invited across South Asia to Modi’s swearing – in ceremony including arch – rival Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif. Modi was denied visa by U.S. administration in 2005, but now has been invited to the White House by President Barack Obama.
In a message to the fellow Indians, he said the elections gave the message of development. The ceremony had around 4000 guests including Ex-President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, members of opposition parties, neighboring countries’ leaders and Bollywood actors. Modi said that he would be streamlining the ministerial cabinet, thus moving to a more centralized governance system aimed at making the decision making process more easy.