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PM administers oath of secrecy to Mahajan, Jaswant Singh

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan today took the oath of office and secrecy as political advisor to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jaswant Singh also took the oath of secrecy at a simple ceremony held at the prime minister's residence.

Vajpayee himself administered the oath to both the leaders who have Cabinet rank.

They had been appointed to the respective offices by the BJP-led coalition government.

Mahajan is now entitled to attend Cabinet meetings and access official documents. He had earlier come under severe criticism from opposition leaders who raised the question of his locus standi to attend Cabinet meetings.

No Cabinet minister or party leader was present during the ceremony at Vajpayee's 7, Race Course Road residence.

According to official sources, the prime minister, after due consideration and to maintain the highest standards of propriety, decided that they be administered the oath of office and secrecy as both Singh and Mahajan would, in the course of their work, come in contact with important government business at different times and at different levels.

UNI

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