Patna: The swearing-in ceremony of Bihar chief minister-designate Nitish Kumar on Friday is set to be a mega show of strength for anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) forces, with as many as 35 prominent leaders from across India confirming their participation.

The development has sparked a debate in the political circles as to whether Kumar will lead a front against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level.

Kumar whose Grand Secular Alliance swept to power in the just-held assembly elections is scheduled to take oath as chief minister of Bihar for the fifth time at the historic Gandhi Maidan on Friday.

According to information provided by the state government, so far 35 leaders from various political parties, such as the Congress party, Aam Adami Party (AAP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of Indian-Marxist (CPI-M), Communist Party of India (CPI), Shiv Sena (SS) National Conference (NC), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Jharkhand Vika Morcha (JVM) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have confirmed their participation in the event. Of these, SS is an alliance partner of the BJP in Maharashtra.

Massive security arrangements have been made.

Of the leaders who have confirmed their participation, nine are chief ministers of different states while one is former Prime Minister.

The leaders are Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav, Uttar Pradesh CM, Siddarmaiah, Karnataka CM, Tarun Gogoi, Assam CM, PK Chamling, Sikkim CM, O. Ibobi Singh, Manipur CM, Birbhadra Singh, Himachal Pradesh CM, Nabam Tuki, Arunachal Pradesh CM and HD Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister.

Apart from these, several others leaders of repute too have confirmed their participation include, Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice-president, Gulam Nabi Azad, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Khadge, Leader of Congress Party in the Lok Sabha, Sharad Pawar, NCP chief, Farooq Abdullah, NC president, his son Omar Abdullah, Sitaram Yechury, CPIM general secretary, D raja, CPI secretary, Sheila Dixit, Bhupendra Singh Hooda, Shankar Singh Baghela, Ajit Jogi, Babulal Marandi, Hemant Soren, Ram Das Kadam and Subhash Desai, Shive Sena ministers in the Maharashtra government, TMK Stalin, Ram Jethmalani and Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of prominent dalit leader Dr BR Ambedkar and Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader.

This is the first time in many years that Kumar has invited leaders opposed to the BJP. Previously, it was mainly the BJP leaders who would grace swearing-in-ceremony of Kumar while his party was part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). However, after their split, he is trying hard to be the nucleus of anti-BJP front if the number of invitations extended to rival parties is any indication.

Kumar also called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and extended him a personal invite but the latter politely expressed his inability to join the ceremony citing his three-day tour to Malaysia and Singapore where he is scheduled to attend the 13th ASEAN-India summit and 10th East Asia Summit, sources said.

Meanwhile, massive security arrangements have been made for the Friday swearing-in ceremony at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan where Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Kumar.

Leaving nothing to chance, the police have erected 18 watch towers around the venue to monitor security arrangements. Besides, CCTV cameras are also being installed in and around the venue to keep an eye on suspicious elements while the visitors have been asked by the police not to carry bags with them.

The police have gone on extra alerts in the background of the terrorist attacks during a rally by Prime Minister Modi in October 2013 when serial blasts rocked the venue. Police are more alert this time given the presence of large number of top politicians who are scheduled to attend the function tomorrow.