Narendra Modi, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, pays tribute at Rajghat, the memorial of Mahatama Gandhi, in New Delhi on May 26, 2014/AFP
NEW DELHI, May 26 – Narendra Modi will be sworn in as India’s prime minister Monday, with the pro-business leader already signalling bold intentions by slashing his cabinet and welcoming his Pakistani counterpart to the ceremony.
After a decade of left-leaning Congress party rule, the 63-year-old Hindu nationalist is set to steer India firmly to the right in the next five years, armed with a powerful mandate after a landslide election victory.
Modi, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, paid a visit to the memorial of India’s independence hero Mahatma Gandhi early Monday, before then stopping to meet Atal Bihari Vajpayee, his party’s only previous premier, who is now confined to his home in Delhi at the age of 89.
His new cabinet was expected to be announced ahead of his inauguration at 6pm (1230 GMT) and Modi indicated in a statement late Sunday that the number of ministries would be sharply reduced.
“Keeping our commitment to ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’ we have made an unprecedented & positive change in Ministry formation,” he also said on his official Twitter feed. READ: Modi supporters erupt in joy at India poll landslide.
Modi, son of a tea-stall owner, secured the biggest majority in 30 years at the election, trouncing the scandal-plagued Congress on a promise of reviving manufacturing and investment to create millions of jobs.
His pledge to overhaul the flagging economy won over voters, along with his rags-to-riches story and reputation as a clean and efficient chief minister of prosperous western Gujarat state.
Critics claimed Modi would favour the Hindu majority at the expense of the country’s 150 million Muslims and other religious minorities, but the warnings failed to dent his rise.
Many Muslims remain deeply suspicious of Modi, who is tainted by communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 that killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. Modi has denied he failed to stop the bloodshed and a court investigation found he had no case to answer.
The invitation to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been interpreted as a significant olive branch to India’s Muslim neighbour and it marks the first time that a leader from either country has attended his counterpart’s inauguration since independence in 1947.
Sharif, who has hailed Modi’s “impressive victory”, accepted the invite which was extended to all heads of government from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) which includes Pakistan.
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