Manmohan Singh sworn-in for second consecutive term as PM

Manmohan Singh was sworn-in as Prime Minister for a second consecutive term at the head of a 20-member team in the first instalment of government formation.

Singh, the first Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru to get a second opportunity after a full-term, was sworn-in by President Pratibha Patil exactly five years to date after the UPA government assumed office in 2004.

Pranab Mukherjee, Sharad Pawar, A K Antony and P Chidambaram, already ministers in the outgoing government, were among those who took the oaths of office and secrecy along with new entrants S M Krishna, Mamata Banerjee, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Veerappa Moily and C P Joshi.

In constituting the new government, senior Congress leaders Arjun Singh, H R Bhardwaj, Saifuddin Soz and Sis Ram Ola do not figure in the ministry.

S Jaipal Reddy, Vayalar Ravi, Sushilkumar Shinde, Kamal Nath, Meira Kumar, Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni, B K Handique and Murli Deora have retained their berth in the ministry with Sharma and Handique being elevated.

The oath taking ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan was attended among others by Vice President Hamid Ansari, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader L K Advani.

Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan and service chiefs were also present.

The PMO said Friday’s exercise will be followed in the next few days by an expansion of the Council of Ministers, including other Cabinet ministers, Ministers of State with independent charge and other Ministers of State which will give due representation to allied parties.