Swearing-in ceremonies of chief ministers are usually official occasions involving a lot of protocol, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leaving no stone unturned to turn the coronation ceremony of its first chief minister in Maharashtra a grand event high on symbolism and glitz. Departing from protocol, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the event’s star attraction, will be seated on a special dais erected on the left of the main dais, where CM-designate Devendra Fadnavis and his cabinet will be sworn in by Governor Vidyasagar Rao on Friday. Modi had attended the swearing-in of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar too. Besides Modi, at least six Union cabinet ministers, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Chemical and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar and Consumer Affairs and Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution Raosaheb Danve, will attend the oath-taking ceremony at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. BJP national president Amit Shah, party’s general secretaries J P Nadda and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, CMs of BJP-ruled states Manohar Parrikar (Goa), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Anandiben Patel (Gujarat), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh) and Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) will be present too. Giving a touch of glamour to the event, BJP has sent invites to the who’s who in Bollywood. Top corporates and leading sportspersons from Maharashtra are also expected to be in attendance. As reported first by The Indian Express, the event will be a break from tradition with a cultural show by renowned artiste Ashok Hande preceding the official swearing-in ceremony. The BJP has roped in popular Bollywood set designer Nitin Desai and event organiser Ravi Savla for the planning, design and construction of the stages, barricades and for the decor at the event.
