Rahul Gandhi cynosure of all eyes at swearing-in ceremony

There is a lot to be done, says Congress new star

The focus, before and after the ceremony, was, however, on the rise of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

The air in the hall was quite relaxed even as the President’s bodyguards took position. Mediapersons started trickling in at 4.30 pm though the ceremony was to begin at 6:30 pm. One of the first Congress leaders who arrived for the ceremony was former Karnataka chief minister Veerappa Moilly. Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh had already occupied one of the chairs. A little over 5.15 pm, dignitaries — cabinet ministers to be sworn in, Congress bigwigs and Opposition leaders — started arriving in droves. Former Home minister Shivraj Patil, ministers-to-be Ambika Soni, A K Antony, Murli Deora, P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and  Pranab Mukherjee moved in.

Rahul Gandhi, clad in white kurta-pyjama and a black waistcoat to go with it, had just strolled in with everyone craning the neck to have a glimpse of the new star. Soon came sister Priyanka. She settled with her husband Robert Vadra in the front row. Later, leader of Opposition L K Advani arrived. Former railway minister Lalu Prasad mingled with the dignitaries. Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh sat on the back benches along with Union Home secretary Madhukar Gupta. Former Union Home secretary V K Duggal and foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon shared a joke or two with the duo.

S M Krishna made his presence felt by moving to the front row. Another Karnataka minister and Congress general secretary Hari Prasad also showed up. “Karnataka is fairly represented,” he said. What about Mallikarjun Kharge? “Will be taken care of,” he quipped.

Then arrived Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to a thunderous applause, followed by President Pratibha Patil. The ceremony begand and Singh took oath. After him, 19 Cabinet members took oath. Barring Pawar, Meira Kumar, C P Joshi and Kamal Nath who took oath in Hindi, all others read out the oath in English.

Kamal Nath did not wait for the President to say “I” and began reading out the oath, triggering laughter. He did it again as he hurried to his seat without signing the register. The audience broke into peals of laughter.

Later, the National Anthem was played, and it was time for a high-powered tea party. Rahul managed the show with an encouraging mother in the background. “There is a lot to be done... we will talk later,” he said.
DH News Service