Pranab Mukherjee will be sworn in as the country’s 13th President at 11.30 a.m.  Wednesday at a special ceremony in the Central Hall of Parliament.

Before taking oath, the president-elect will visit Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘samadhi’ at Rajghat.
Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia will administer the oath in the presence of Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Union ministers, governors, chief ministers and a host of dignitaries.

The president-elect is learnt to have indicated to the protocol wing that 17 of his family members, relatives and close aides may attend the swearing-in function. The protocol wing has been requested to arrange a wheelchair for one of the relatives.

The function will begin with the arrival of the incumbent President Pratibha Patil and Mukherjee in a ceremonial procession from Rashtrapati Bhavan to the Parliament building. They will be received by CJI Kapadia, Ansari and Kumar and escorted to Central Hall.

After Mukherjee takes over, he will be given a 21-gun salute, address the gathering and then leave for Rashtrapati Bhavan with Patil. Mukherjee will be given an inter-services guard of honour in the forecourt of the presidential palace. He will then escort Patil to her temporary accommodation at 2, Tughlak Lane where she will stay till her post-retirement home in Pune is ready.

3 Metro stations to remain closed for 2 hrs
Three Metro stations in central Delhi will be closed to the public for two hours in the morning Wednesday due to security restrictions in view of the swearing-in of Pranab Mukherjee as President. Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan and Khan Market will remain closed to the public from 09:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, a DMRC spokesman said.

However, interchange will be allowed at Central Secretariat Metro station. Normal services for these three stations will be restored at 11:00 a.m. The Metro services on all other Metro stations will run as per normal schedule, the spokesman said.