Equal rights activist Gopi Shankar Madurai invited to PM-elect Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony
Jun 09, 2024
New Delhi [India], June 9 : For the first time in Indian political history and India's history, the most marginalised group of diverse SOGIESC community members (persons born or living with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics) are invited to witness the swearing-in ceremony of the PM-elect Narendra Modi on Sunday.
The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for June 9 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The premises have been closed to the public from June 5 to June 9 in preparation for the event. The oath-taking ceremony for Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi will take place on Sunday, June 9, at around 7:15 pm.
For the first time, Gopi Shankar Madurai and senior activists and members from diverse SOGIESC communities are invited to attend the PM's swearing-in ceremony. The Narendra Modi-led NDA government earlier appointed Gopi Shankar Madurai as the first intersex statutory authority with the Government of India. Intersex people are not yet officially part of the Indian census.
Intersex is a general term used for a variety of situations in which a person is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't fit the boxes of "female" or "male." Sometimes doctors do surgeries on intersex babies and children to make their bodies fit binary ideas of "male" or "female".
Over 8,000 dignitaries are expected to be present for the ceremony. Foreign leaders from various countries have accepted invitations to attend, with plans to arrive in New Delhi on Sunday. Following the ceremony, the dignitaries will be attending a formal banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
PM Modi will take the oath of office at 7.15 pm today along with his council of ministers in a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) unanimously passed a resolution to elect Narendra Modi as their leader on June 5.
With today's swearing-in, Narendra Modi will become the only leader after former PM Jawaharlal Nehru, who has been elected for a third consecutive term after completing the full tenure of each previous term.
All security measures have been put in place for the mega event. Five companies of paramilitary forces will be deployed to ensure the safety and security of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The BJP bagged 240 seats and the National Democratic Alliance secured 293 seats out of 543 Lok Sabha seats. Congress fought the election as part of the INDIA bloc and the parties together were able to prevent BJP from getting a majority on its own in Lok Sabha.
