Mentors absent

Nirmala Sitharaman ( pictured), 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.