NDA 2.0 in the making?

Cries of Dekho dekho kaun aya, Bharat ka sher aaya rented the air at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad as an array of national leaders appeared on the stage where Narendra Modi was sworn in for the fourth time as Gujarat chief minister. But, conspicuous with their absence were chief ministers Nitish Kumar of Bihar and Naveen Patnaik of Odisha; none from their parties were present either.
The star-studded show, therefore, gave a sneak preview of a possible new NDA, one which Modi hopes to lead into the 2014 parliamentary elections. While Nitish and the entire JD(U) skipped the ceremony, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray was present along with his estranged cousin and new Shiv Sena head Uddhav Thackeray. Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa was perched on a chair which seemed higher than everybody else’s.
Shiromani Akali Dal and Haryana Vikas Party were represented, but Telugu Desam Party’s Chandrababu Naidu was absent. The political galaxy watched 16 of Modi’s ministers administered the oath of office by governor Kamla Beniwal, who has long been at odds with Modi.

 “Took oath as Gujarat’s CM for the 4th time! A memorable day. I assure we will live up to the faith people have reposed in us,” Modi tweeted after the ceremony. “My thanks to people, senior leaders & spiritual leaders who graced the occasion & to all who watched the event live,” Modi said on the microblogging site, referring to Hindu saints, maulvis and a Christian priest who shared the stage with him. “Narendrabhai has proved that if you govern well then people trust you and reward you handsomely. Caste and community take aback seat. It’s the emergence of a new democratic India,” said BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Modi’s ministry has eight Patels, one dalit, one Scheduled Caste, two Kshatriyas, one Anjana Patel and three OBCs. Five ministers each are from Saurashtra and north Gujarat, four from Ahmedabad district, two from central Gujarat and one from south Gujarat.
Other notables were Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, INLD boss Om Prakash Chautala, chief ministers Jagdish Shettar (Karnataka), Manohar Parrikar (Goa), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), Arjun Munda (Jharkhand), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (MP), Vasundhara Raje, and Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi. Party president Nitin Gadkari was there along with LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu.