Congress congratulates PM Narendra Modi

"The Indian National Congress congratulates Shri Narendra Modi on taking over as the 15th Prime Minister of India," the Congress tweeted.

Amid the presence of high profile dignitaries from India and beyond its border, Narendra Modi on Monday took oath as India's 15th Prime Minister at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, capping a political carnival in the world's biggest democracy that lasted for months and saw the man of the moment's inexorable journey to the hot seat after an unprecedented electioneering.

President Pranab Mukherjee  administered the oath of office and secrecy to Modi, who became a widely accepted leader with a Midas touch in translating support into votes for his party BJP and graduating from a polarising force in Indian politics owing to the 2002 Gujarat riots, to the prime minister of a secular nation.

Mukherjee also administered the oath of office and secrecy to Modi's council of ministers in the presence of other leaders of this part of the world including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supremo Rajnath SIngh and other senior party leaders like Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Smriti Irani, VK Singh (former Army chief) among others took oath as ministers.

The presence of Sharif and Rajapaksa sent a new signal from India to the world and is seen as the beginning of a new era in the South Asia geopolitics.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and other top leaders like Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi were among the hosts of dignitaries who were present at the venue to witness the new PM's oath-taking ceremony.