AHMEDABAD, Dec 22: Firebrand right-wing Hindu leader Narendra Modi was sworn in on Sunday as chief minister of India’s riot-scarred Gujarat state at a mammoth public function.

Modi, along with 15 state government ministers, took the oath of office at a 20-minute ceremony in the presence of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani, a host of top leaders of his ruling BJP party, filmstars and a huge crowd of over 200,000 people at the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad, the state’s commercial capital.

The huge crowd waved saffron and green-coloured BJP flags and shouted slogans as Modi stood up to take the oath and holy men from a local temple showered him with flower petals.

The event was shown live on national television, underlining Modi’s elevation from a virtually unknown regional politician last year to a BJP leader of national status.—AFP