Historic win, grand swearing in, BJP on cloud 9

JAIPUR: Amidst much fun-fare, which complemented the BJP's historic win, Vasundhara Raje on Friday was sworn in as the state's chief minister.
The swearing-in came five days after BJP swept the 2013 assembly polls, winning 162 seats of 199 where pollings were held but Raje wasted absolutely no time in getting into the shoes of the state chief minister to show who the boss is now.A major administrative reshuffle, soon after she took charge as the chief minister, saw state chief secretary C K Mathew transferred to the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation as CMD while DGP Harish Meena posted as DG, Jails.
Raje took the oath of office and secrecy at the Rajasthan Assembly in the presence of senior party leaders including Rajnath Singh, Narendra Modi and L K Advani. The oath was administered by Governor Margaret Alva.
It was a grand ceremony with thousands witnessing Raje being sworn-in and and was marked the presence of several national senior leaders of the party. Adding to the glamour quotient were BJP's Rajya Sabha member and Bollywood star Hema Malini and actor Vivek Oberoi. The main dais was dazzled by presence of senior party leaders - MP chief minister designate Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chattisgarh CM Raman Singh, Harsh Vardhan, Nitin Gadkari, Gopinath Munde, Prakash Singh Badal, to name a few.
Dressed in a deep orange saree, Raje was all smiles and greeting guests - be it religious leaders or senior politicians in a warm manner. She also greeted her predecessor Ashok Gehlot as warmly. This was the second time that Raje took oath as a chief minister, the first time being in 2003.
However, the grandness was in the larger presence of supporters, who had thronged the main Janpath and surrounding roads, with crowds on the terraces of high rise buildings adjacent to the Rajasthan Assembly. The crowds cheered at the sight of Raje taking oath and Modi on the dais. Hundreds of orange and green balloons were released by the supporters after Raje took oath.
Raje began her day with a visit to the Amar Jawan Jyoti, where she paid homage to the martyrs, which was followed by a visit to the state party headquarters. At the state headquarters, Raje addressed the 161 new legislators. "The welfare of the kin of the martyrs and paying respect to them were my first priorities. Likewise, respect for party workers will be part of my functioning,'' she said. While the legislators reached the assembly after that, Raje went home and left for the venue for the oath-taking ceremony.
After the ceremony, Raje immediately left for the chief minister office, where she was welcomed by government officers and employees. Raje held a meeting with additional chief secretary C S Rajan, who will continue to hold additional charge of the chief secretary till further orders. However, speculations over the probable cabinet members continued as Raje is expected to announce her new team over the weekend.
Interacting with the mediapersons at the secretariat, Raje said, "The big win comes with bigger responsibilities. The support we have received makes me nervous but I will work hard to live up to the expectations and trust of our voters.'' She added that she would move forward with support of all the castes in the state.
VVIP Guests:
Rajnath Singh, Narendra Modi, L K Advani, Nitin Gadkari, Gopinath Munde, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh, Harsh Vardhan, Prakash Singh Badal, state party in-charge Kaptan Singh Solanki, national organisational secretary Saudan Singh along with other senior leaders including Bhupendra Yadav, Kirit Somaiya, Om Prakash Mathur, Ramdas Agarwal, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackarey along with his son Aditya Thackarey, Bollywood actors Vivek Oberoi and Hema Malini.
Other important personalities were erstwhile royal family members of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Madhya Pradesh. Raje's sister Yashodhara Raje Scindia, her son Dushyant Singh and his wife Niharika Singh were among the family members of Raje, who were present at the swearing in.
Raje personally invites Gehlot
Chief minister Vasundhara Raje, a day before she took oath, had personally called former chief minister Ashok Gehlot to extend an invitation to be part of her swearing-in ceremony. Gehlot, accompanied by PCC chief Chandrabhan, arrived at the Assembly and congratulated senior BJP leaders who were already present on the dais. BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi hugged Gehlot, which was cheered by the crowds. When Raje was greeting her esteemed guests, Gehlot and Raje shook hands as Gehlot congratulated Raje for the victory. The two together waved their hands at the crowds, posing for the photographers.