Congress leaders absent from swearing-in

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) Senior Congress leaders, including party president Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, did not attend the oath-taking ceremony of 21 new ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council of ministers here on Sunday.

An official at Manmohan Singh’s residence said they got the invitation on Sunday morning but the former prime minister could not attend the ceremony as he had other engagements.

Another official said Gandhi had also been invited for the function.

Former law minister M. Veerappa Moily said he had been invited for the ceremony but he was in Karnataka.

“There was no instruction not to attend (the ceremony),” Moily told IANS.

Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav was present at the ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.