The Congress party has confirmed that its chief and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, will be attending the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi today. This announcement comes a day after Kharge received an invitation to the event.
The decision to attend was made after consultations with partners in the INDIA bloc. However, in a surprising turn of events, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared on Saturday that her party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), a partner of the INDIA bloc, would not be attending the ceremony.
In other developments, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) convened on Saturday and passed a resolution to appoint Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. While Rahul Gandhi is yet to make a decision on accepting the role, Sonia Gandhi, another party leader, has accepted the position of the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party.
Congress leader KC Venugopal, addressing the press after the meeting, stated, “The CWC unanimously requested Rahul Gandhi to take up the position of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. We believe Rahul ji is the best person to lead this campaign inside Parliament.”
The oath-taking ceremony is scheduled to take place at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 7.15 pm today, with President Droupadi Murmu administering the oath to Narendra Modi and his Council of Ministers. This will mark the beginning of Narendra Modi’s third consecutive term as Prime Minister, with various top leaders expected to attend the event.
Earlier today, Modi paid his respects to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Sadaiv Atal in Delhi. Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Modi is also expected to meet his new cabinet over tea at his residence – 7 Lok Kalyan Marg. During this meeting, Modi will brief the ministers on their roles and responsibilities in the new government.
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