President Droupadi Murmu on Friday appointed NDA Parliamentary Party leader Narendra Modi as Prime Minister-designate paving the way for his swearing-in as the Prime Minister for a historic third consecutive term after Jawaharlal Nehru.
This is the first time an incumbent Government is entering a third term in India since 1962. Murmu handed over the letter of appointment to Modi, who called on her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Friday evening. Earlier, leaders of the BJP-led NDA had called on Murmu and handed over letters of support for Modi, who was elected as the leader of the NDA Parliamentary Party.
“The President having satisfied herself on the basis of the various letters of support received that the BJP-led NDA alliance, which is also the largest pre-election alliance, is in a position to command majority support of the newly constituted 18th Lok Sabha and to form a stable Government, appointed Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India exercising powers vested in her under Article 75(1) of the Constitution of India,” the Rashtrapati Bhawan said in a communiqué.
Addressing the media in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Modi said he has been appointed as Prime Minister-designate by the President.
“The President has asked me to work as the PM-designate and she has informed me about the oath ceremony," Modi said and added that he has informed the President that they will be comfortable if the event is held at 7.15 pm of June 9. He said the Rashtrapati Bhavan will work out the details of the oath taking ceremony on Sunday by when he would hand over the list of the Council of Ministers to the President.
“This 18th Lok Sabha is an important milestone towards fulfilling those dreams when the country will celebrate the 100 years of independence in 2047," Modi said.
This 18th Lok Sabha is a House of new energy, youthful energy, and people have given the NDA Government one more chance, Modi said.
Earlier, at a meeting of the NDA parliamentary party in the central hall of the old Parliament House, Modi was unanimously elected by the MPs and coalition partners as the leader of the alliance. BJP leader Rajnath Singh proposed Modi's name as the leader of the NDA Parliamentary Party and the proposal was seconded by his party colleagues Amit Shah and Nitin Gadkari as well as top NDA leaders.
NDA leaders HD Kumaraswamy, Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar, Chirag Paswan, Jayant Choudhary (RLD), Ajit Pawar (NCP), Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal-S), Pawan Kalyan (Jana Sena) supported the proposal.
Before moving to Rashtrapati Bhavan Modi sought blessings of veterans LK Advani and MM Joshi who were pillars of the NDA alliance when it was first formed. Modi went to meet former president Ram Nath Kovind at his residence.
Modi, while addressing the NDA’s parliamentary meeting, spelled out his vision for the "next 10 years" of the NDA Government.
Terming NDA as the most successful alliance, Modi said that the aim of the alliance is to reach unanimity across all the key decisions. Stating that the last ten years of his tenure was just a trailer, PM Modi said that the NDA will deliver on good governance in next 10 years. “We will work much harder and faster for the development of our country. People know that we will deliver. In the next 10 years, NDA will deliver on good governance, development, improving the quality of life," he said. He also congratulated the victorious NDA leaders and and thanked people for giving him the opportunity to serve them again.
"This is the most successful alliance in the history of our country. It has completed three successful terms and is now entering its fourth. "The NDA is not a grouping of parties that have come together to get power, it is committed to the principle of 'nation first'," he added. Modi said that people expect the party to deliver more than before and added that NDA stands for "new, developed and aspirational India."
The BJP leader stated that NDA will prioritise poor as well as the middle class and also continue to ensure welfare of people and deliver quality life to all.
In a scathing attack on Congress and INDIA bloc, Modi said "INDI alliance" parties have already started saying they came together only for the Lok Sabha polls. Such an approach showed their character, hunger for power, he said. "For me the NDA stands for New India, Developed India, Aspirational India," he said. The prime minister said he had been missing parliamentary debates and hoped that the Opposition MPs also contribute to nation-building when they come to parliament.
Modi said that the Opposition’s efforts to paint the NDA’s Lok Sabha election victory as a loss has gone in vain. Taking a dig at the Congress’s performance, the PM said, “Congress couldn’t touch the 100-mark even after 10 years. Their total seats in the last three Lok Sabha polls are fewer than our tally in this election alone.” Addressing the MPs, Modi said that he would strive to ensure unanimity in all decisions of his next government and asserted that the NDA is an organic alliance committed to the principle of ‘nation first’. “The NDA is not a grouping of parties that have come together to get power, it is committed to the principle of ‘nation first’,” he stated. He also said that the NDA reflects the spirit of India and asserted that the alliance was “committed to principle of ‘sarv pantha sambhava‘ (all sects are equal).”
“People want us to deliver more than before, public wants us to break our own records. To fulfil this dream and resolve is our commitment and we have a roadmap for that,” he added.
Speaking about the NDAs dominance in the Lok Sabha polls, he said: “We were neither defeated nor are we defeated. You can ask any child whose government was in power before the Lok Sabha Elections? He will say NDA. Then ask him who formed the government after 2024, and he will say NDA…It was an NDA government in the past, still is and will be.”
Modi went on to bring up allegations of EVM interference doing the rounds ahead of results and said, “I strongly feel people of INDI alliance belong to previous century when they question tech advancements like EVMs, Aadhaar…I’ve been missing Parliamentary debates, I hope Opposition MPs will also contribute to nation-building when they come to Parliament.
Modi, amid felicitation by the NDA lawmakers, showed his high regards for the Constitution by touching the sacred book to his forehead and then bowing down before it. His touching gesture at the Central Hall of Parliament has brought back memories of 2014 and 2019, when he knelt down before entering the Temple of Democracy, while making his debut as a Parliamentarian. The BJP-led NDA won 293 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections and enjoys majority in the 543-member House.
