Mamata Banerjee and Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief ministers of Bengal and Kerala, are set to be among the notable absentees at the swearing-in of Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi and his council of ministers on Thursday, putting the two political rivals on the same side of the fence.

Planned for 6,000 people on the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the swearing-in ceremony — like much else about the Modi government — will be a political statement, bringing together under one canopy the unlikely combination of heads of state/government from seven countries and the usually unsung workers who kept the BJP alive on fertile and hostile ground. Plus the usual mix of protocol-related invitees.

While Mamata did a volte face on Wednesday after learning that the BJP planned to bring the families of party workers “murdered” in political violence in Bengal to the swearing-in, no reason was cited by Vijayan for not accepting the invitation.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik is also likely to give it a miss. The reason being cited is the need for him to be present in the Assembly during the oath-taking of the newly elected legislators.

From the Opposition-ruled states, the chief ministers of Karnataka, Telangana and Delhi — H.D. Kumaraswamy, K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Arvind Kejriwal — have announced their participation. Andhra Pradesh chief minister-elect Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who will take his oath of office on Thursday morning, will also attend.

There was no official word on the Congress chief ministers’ participation but the party’s top leadership — president Rahul Gandhi and his predecessor Sonia Gandhi — is expected to be present, as was the case in 2014. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office also confirmed his participation.

All former Presidents and Prime Ministers are on the invitee list along with every sitting chief minister and governor, besides leaders of several political parties and heads of diplomatic missions.

The foreign contingent will be slightly bigger than the one in 2014. The eight-member Saarc has been replaced by the seven-member Bimstec along with the current chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, and the President of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.

From Bimstec, Bangladesh will be represented by President Abdul Hamid, Sri Lanka by President Maithripala Sirisena, Myanmar by President U. Win Myint, Nepal by Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, Bhutan by Prime Minister Lotay Tshering and Thailand by special envoy Grisada Boonnrach.

This will by far be the biggest such event to be hosted at Rashtrapati Bhavan, bigger than Modi’s first swearing-in on May 26, 2014, when too he had opted for the forecourt instead of the Darbar Hall.

The Puducherry chief minister, V. Narayanasamy of the Congress, said he would attend the swearing-in, adding that the Union territory had to maintain cordial relations with the Centre. His Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel said he would not be able to make it because of prior commitments. He, however, said he had sought time from the Prime Minister for a meeting. Government sources said a large number of actors and sporting icons, including Shah Rukh Khan, Rahul Dravid and Saina Nehwal, had been invited. Industrialists such as Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani and Ratan Tata are also on the guest list. There was no official confirmation on who all will attend. From stardom, the only confirmation was from Tamil superstar Rajinikanth.