Aiswarya S Menon Among Special Guests at PM Modi’s Swearing-In Ceremony

GG News Bureau
Chennai, 8th June. Aiswarya S Menon, a senior assistant loco pilot with the Chennai Division of Southern Railway, is set to be one of the 8,000 special guests attending the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his new government on Sunday. Menon, who currently works on the Vande Bharat trains, has logged over 2 lakh footplate hours, operating various services including the Vande Bharat Express and Jan Shatabdi.

Menon has garnered accolades from senior officials for her agility, alertness, and comprehensive knowledge of railway signalling. She has been instrumental in piloting the Chennai-Vijayawada and Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express services since their inception. Her invitation to the ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan underscores her exemplary service in the Indian Railways.

Asia’s First Woman Loco Pilot to Attend
Surekha Yadav, Asia’s first woman loco pilot, will also attend the oath-taking ceremony. Yadav, who drives the Vande Bharat train from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to Solapur, is among ten loco pilots invited to the event. She became India’s first female train driver in 1988 and is the first woman to pilot the semi-high speed Vande Bharat Express.

Diverse Guest List
In addition to railway employees, the guest list includes sanitation workers, transgender individuals, and laborers who worked on the Central Vista Project, according to sources. Arrangements are being made for over 8,000 guests at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

PM Modi’s Third Term
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take his oath for a third consecutive term on Sunday evening. President Droupadi Murmu invited him to form the government on Friday. The ceremony will begin at 7:15 pm at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where the president will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the prime minister and other members of the Union Council of Ministers.

International Attendance
Various South Asian leaders have been invited to the ceremony. Confirmed attendees include Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Invitations have also reportedly been sent to Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda,’ his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay, and Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth.

Historical Context
In 2014, leaders of the SAARC countries attended PM Modi’s first swearing-in ceremony. In 2019, the event saw the attendance of leaders from BIMSTEC countries. PM Modi will be the second Indian prime minister to win a third straight term, following Jawaharlal Nehru. Unlike Nehru’s single-party government, Modi’s government will be a coalition, as the BJP did not secure a majority on its own in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Election Results
The BJP won 240 seats, a decrease from the 303 seats it secured in 2019. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 293 seats, maintaining a majority in the Lok Sabha. The party’s main allies include Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, with 16 seats, and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United, with 12 seats.