In Ashoka Hall too NDA has no numbers

Asked about the no-show, she told The Sunday Express: ‘‘So what? I don’t expect anything better from them. What is important is that our Government has now been formed.’’

The few senior outgoing ministers who did show up sat solemnly at the back of the hall, isolated in the celebration. This included Jaswant Singh, George Fernandes and Murli Manohar Joshi and occasionally you caught a hint of bitterness in their words.

As Amar Singh and Sitaram Yechury strode in together, Jaswant Singh made as if to greet them. They brushed past him. ‘‘They didn’t notice me,’’ he said almost to himself, ‘‘This is how things are, I suppose.’’

The standard excuse for missing the function was that many of the outgoing ministers were out of town.

‘‘I came because I wasn’t going anywhere. I am in Delhi so I’m here,’’ said George Fernandes. Added Murli Manohar Joshi ‘‘Many of our Minister have left Delhi.”

Former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani sat in the front rows but left as soon as the oath-taking was over. He skipped the high tea.

Among those who gave the function a miss were Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar, Arun Shourie, Ram Naik and Jagmohan. But the most notable absentee was Sushma Swaraj, who had raised the issue of Sonia’s foreign origins and had threatened to tonsure her head and start living like a sanyasin if Sonia were sworn in Prime Minister.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, who attended the function, was candid about the subject. ‘‘I wanted to come, so I’m here. This shows the maturing of Indian democracy,” he said. “And yes, I agree some people (in our party) took political rivalry too far.’’

Added I D Swami. ‘‘Nobody in our party expected a defeat like this one. As far as Sushma’s dramatic announcements of shaving off her head is concerned, all I can say is that it was her personal decision which I did not approve of.’’

Digvijay Singh clarified that there was no collective decision taken to skip the function — which might have happened had Sonia been the new Prime Minister. ‘‘Now that she had chosen Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister, it was the individual decision of each Minister to attend or not. After all, invitations had been sent out to each of us individually.’’

In between all this posturising, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia had the looks of a winner and after the ceremony ended, stood in the aisle and congratulated many members of the new Council of Ministers. She openly hinted that things might have been different had she been in the departing Cabinet. ‘‘All I can say is that I am relieved I was invited to Rashtrapati Bhavan today as a Chief Minister and not as an outgoing Minister.’’