India's new Hindu Nationalist Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was sworn into office in New Delhi on May 16, 1996. The newly elected Prime Minister is from the right wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr. Vajpayee, 70, is India's 10th Prime Minister since the country's independence in 1947.

Prime Minister Vajpayee chose an interim 12 member cabinet the day after his swearing in ceremony. His choices for the cabinet positions seemed intended to reassure Indians who do not belong to the upper-caste Hindu groups who have been the strongest supporters of Hindu nationalism. Muslims, particularly, have expressed apprehension at what a Hindu nationalist government might do in promoting the nationalist creed of Hindutva, which holds that all Indians, not only hte 700 million Hindus, belong within the social and cultural umbrella of Hinduism. Amongst Vajpayee's choices for the cabinet was a Muslim, Sikander Bakht, one of the members of India's 120 million strong Muslim population who has been prominent in the higher echelons of Hindu nationalism. Also included in the cabinet were a member of the Sikh religious minority, a lower-caste Hindu and a member of a tribal group.