Governor Naval Kishore Sharma administered the oath of office in Gujarati amid a sea of saffron bandanas, and an almost hysterical crowd that had packed the stands and the ground of the Sardar Patel Stadium here. In the background, a team belted out Gujarati songs praising Hindutva and its hero’s victory.

On display was the grand pageantry that has come to be associated with Modi. On the left of the dais were the newly-elected 117 BJP MLAs. In front, was an enclosure for the sants, from whom Modi sought blessings.

The sadhus’ presence was the turnaround story of the day. Sitting on a raised enclosure was Mahant Avichaldas Maharaj of Sarsa, who has been at the forefront of the anti-Modi agitation in Saurashtra, pleading for the rout of BJP. Leading a delegation of sadhus, the Mahant had travelled in the tribal areas as part of his anti-Modi campaign. A day before Modi took out his roadshow in Panchmahals district, over 100 sadhus organised a rally urging people to vote out Modi. This was in complete contrast to 2002, when these sadhus had actively campaigned for the BJP.

But today, the sants stood to greet Modi as he made his entry, some bowed while others took his hands to their foreheads. A benign Modi accepted the blessings, but did not wear the garlands offered. He only accepted the silver crown from Bharti Bapu of the Bharti Ashram.

Top BJP leaders including party chief Rajnath Singh, L K Advani, Murli Manohar

Joshi, Arun Jaitley and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat were present at today’s function. Also present were BJP Chief Ministers Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, B C Khanduri and Raman Singh.

But despite invitations, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik did not turn up. Another notable absence was that of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who had made her presence felt in 2002. NDA convener George Fernandez, accompanied by Jaya Jaitley, was the only ally who was present.

As Chief Secretary Manjula Subramaniam declared the ceremony over and announced Modi as CM, the stadium burst into another round of frenzy and crackers. Modi, accompanied by Rajnath, Advani and state BJP president Purushottam Rupala then moved in an open jeep around the periphery of the stands greeting the supporters.

Modi meets Keshubhai

AHMEDABAD: Indicating a change of a heart, Narendra Modi met BJP rebel Keshubhai Patel at his residence in Gandhinagar on Tuesday evening hours after he took over as the Chief Minister. Sources said Modi met the leader, who has been served a show-cause notice by BJP central leadership for anti-party activities, and sought his blessings. The meeting lasted 20 minutes. Sources said Keshubhai congratulated Modi and offered him sweets.