Mentors absent

Nirmala Sitharaman, elevated as Cabinet minister, and Alphons Kannanthanam, appointed minister of state, took oath in English on Saturday. All others took oath in Hindi. No representative of the Opposition — except leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad — was present at the swearing-in ceremony. Kalraj Mishra and Sanjeev Balyan, who resigned as union ministers ahead of the reshuffle, were present at the ceremony. However, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders L K Advani and M M Joshi, who are also part of the party’s ‘margdarshak mandal’, or mentors’ group, were absent.