Opposition leaders, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and ex-PM Manmohan Singh, gave the oath-taking ceremony a miss, making it an exclusively NDA affair. The absence of national leaders from Congress and Left parties was made up by regional satraps who witnessed the swearing-in of 21 ministers in the packed Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
“Both Sonia and Manmohan were invited to the ceremony,” power minister Piyush Goyal said while Rashtrapati Bhavan sources confirmed that leaders of opposition had been invited as per protocol. Rajya Sabha deputy chairman and Congress leader P J Kurien and SP's Ram Gopal Yadav were the only opposition leaders present.
