Back to business: Ministers checkin

The staid corridors of Shastri Bhawan, home to various Union ministries, were a riot of colour on Tuesday.

The sombre building resembled a flower market, packed as it was with bouquets for the men and women of the moment: the newly sworn-in ministers who were taking charge today.

As they assumed office, some came with families in tow-parents, children, grandchildren. A few took charge after paying obeisance to Ganesha, the god of auspicious beginnings, while others plunged straight into business, familiar with the ministries they had headed in the last government as well.

Two power cuts in the Shram Shakti Bhawan, which houses the power ministry, interrupted the celebrations and triggered a series of jokes amongst the crowd gathered to greet the new power minister, Manohar Lal Khattar.

Close aides from Khattar's home state, Haryana, to heads of some of India's largest public sector power companies had lined up with flowers from the entry gate to the second floor of the building. Khattar arrived, declined to speak to the media or issue any statement, and moved to the conference room for a meet-and-greet, after which the secretary and other senior officials of the power ministry briefed him. The session lasted over an hour.

Throughout the Lok Sabha election, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders like Khattar had described themselves as "Modi ka Parivar" on their social media handles. On Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "With the message of all of us being one family having been effectively conveyed, I... request that you may now remove 'Modi Ka Parivar' from your social media properties."

Tuesday overall was a busy day, perhaps more so for Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister with one of the heaviest mix of portfolios. Vaishnaw had to wrap his day up in a hurry with a morning trip scheduled for Bhubaneswar, Odisha, where the BJP has made a strong mark in the Assembly polls.