Amma, live with Modi on Sunday

When asked why Jayalalithaa had been invited despite not being a member of the NDA, senior BJP leader Ashok Bhatt said: ‘‘She is the chief minister of a friendly state.’’

When asked whether DMK, which is part of the NDA, had been invited, Bhatt said all NDA partners, including DMK, had been invited but their availability would be confirmed only tomorrow. RSS spokesman M G Vaidya and senior VHP leaders from outside Gujarat have also been invited, Bhatt said.

Sources said TDP leader and Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will not attend the ceremony. Naidu, who had opposed holding early polls in Gujarat after the violence, will instead be in Hyderabad to welcome the Prime Minister for the National Games.

Lending glamour to the function will be Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha and Hema Malini. Among the other invitees who have confirmed their participation are former chief minister P S Badal and the Goa CM.

Invites have been sent to former J and K chief minister Farooq Abdullah, all ministers in the NDA government, presidents of all the state units of the BJP and other important BJP leaders. Also on the invitee list are those who helped in campaigning, like Uttar Pradesh C M Mayawati.

In fact, invitations have also been sent to chief ministers of Congress-ruled states, sources in the party said. At the stadium, work is on round the clock under powerful halogen lights.

Four stages are being erected and an elevator installed for the use of Prime Minister and Governor S S Bhandari, both of whom have knee problems. A committee of senior IAS officers and BJP leaders Ashok Bhatt and Bhupendrasinh Chudasma is taking care of the arrangements. According to Chudasma, one stage is being erected for the PM and the Deputy Prime Minister, another for the swearing-in ceremony, a third for the other VVIPs, and the fourth for the Sadhu and Mahatmas.