Congress President Rahul Gandhi and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, along with former prime minister Manmohan Singh will attend the swearing-in of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday evening at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Leaders of Bimstec countries will also be present at the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi as the prime minister.

A number of opposition leaders have been invited to the oath-taking ceremony and many of them are attending. It will be the first time that the leaders will be together after the Lok Sabha election campaign. Many international leaders and representatives of eight countries, including Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid will also participate in the swearing-in ceremony.

However, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has canceled her plan to attend the ceremony after the BJP invited to the event. BJP claimed that the kin of 54 party workers were murdered in political violence in West Bengal.

As many as 8,000 guests, including VVIPs, will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi and his council of ministers. This is the highest number of guests attending such a function, the sources said.

also read: PM Modi Pays Tribute At Mahatma Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorials