Vajpayee's swearing-in to take place in Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt
Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be sworn in as
the country's 12th prime minister at a function in the forecourt of
Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 19.
The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 0930 hours IST,
Rashtrapati Bhavan sources said today. President K R Narayanan will
administer the oath of office and secrecy to Vajpayee and his
ministerial colleagues whose numbers have not yet been fixed.
However, indications are that a compact Cabinet with a minimum of 15
members, all with cabinet rank, will be sworn in on Thursday.
This will be the second time that a ceremony will take place
in the forecourt. Earlier, Chandra Shekhar had taken oath as
prime minister at the forecourt in November 1990 to enable a large
number of his supporters to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
Vajpayee, who had earlier in the day called on the President, expressed
his desire to have the swearing-in ceremony in the forecourt as the BJP
and its allies would like to invite several supporters.
Meanwhile, the Rashtrapati Bhavan is being spruced up and
elaborate arrangements made for the ceremony.
UNI
Elections '98
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