Ahmedabad, Dec. 26: A politician and an industrialist stood out from among the roll-call of guests who attended Narendra Modi’s swearing-in today at Sardar Patel Stadium here.

If Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa drew attention, it was not merely because of the potential for post-poll alliances. She was among the few non-Congress chief ministers who turned up.

Odisha chief minister did not attend because of his policy of maintaining equidistance from the BJP and the Congress. He has been following this policy ever since breaking his party’s alliance with the BJP in 2009. Incidentally, even on the day the Assembly election results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh were announced, Naveen had congratulated the winners without naming them.

Naveen also had another pressing reason for avoiding the trip to Ahmedabad. Today was the 15th foundation of his party, the Biju Janata Dal. He made sure that he was not only present on the occasion, but also delivered a full-length speech.

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee gave the event a miss because of a pre-determined tour of north Bengal and her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar was never expected to be in Ahmedabad, given the previous postures.

The presence of the Sena cousins, Raj and Uddhav Thackeray, was also noted.

Among the business line-up, the face that stood out was that of Subrata Roy, whose Sahara group has been facing problems from the capital markets watchdog, Sebi.

Roy had never attended any of the vibrant summits that had drawn corporate chieftains like a magnet.

The Sahara group has acquired land near Ahmedabad for developing a township — the project is yet to take off.

The BJP leadership was present in considerable strength. But Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh, Shatrughan Sinha were not seem.

Asked about the absence of chief ministers such as Naveen and Nitish, BJP spokesperson Vijay Rupani said: “All those who love and respect Modi have come.”

Governor Kamla Beniwal, whose removal Modi had sought last year, today administered the oath of office and secrecy. Modi was sworn in along with seven ministers of cabinet rank and nine ministers of state.

After a brief ceremony, Modi went around the stadium in an open jeep, waving to the cheering crowd and flashing the victory sign.

The presence of Jayalalithaa was interpreted as a sign that at the very least if the BJP is in a position to form the government at the Centre, the party can count on her outside support.

Although Modi accorded Jayalalithaa the pride of place during his swearing-in, she is unlikely to reciprocate the gesture when the BJP looks for allies ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Jayalalithaa’s importance in the BJP’s scheme of things could be gauged by the fact that she was seated ahead of L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and half a dozen chief ministers, five of them from the BJP. The party views her as a key ally who could deliver at least 20 seats from Tamil Nadu, which could boost the BJP’s chances of heading a coalition government.

But Jayalalithaa is in no hurry to convert her party’s working relationship with the BJP or her special friendship with Modi into a formal alliance in Tamil Nadu for the 2014 elections for two reasons.

The last time she teamed up with the BJP in 2004, her front got routed and her foreigner tirade against Sonia failed to click. Also, if she aligns with the BJP, she will drive away other prospective allies like the CPI and the CPM, which have a slightly better vote share than the BJP’s one per cent in Tamil Nadu.

More important, Jayalalithaa would not want to lose the votes of Christians and Muslims in the state, who each constitute a solid six per cent of the population. Even her participation at Modi’s event was objected to by a few political parties. She explained the attendance as a reciprocal response, just as Modi had attended her swearing-in in May 2011.

The AIADMK supremo understands that a formal alliance with the BJP, with Modi as a possible prime ministerial candidate, could alienate the minority votes when the DMK is assembling a formidable front that includes her estranged ally Vijayakanth.