Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners will stake claim to form the Government on June 7. Modi is likely to take oath on June 8. This is the first time since Jawaharlal Nehru that a Prime Minister will be returning to power for a third consecutive term.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners on Wednesday met at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence 7 Lok Kalyan Marg and unanimously elected him as the alliance leader, paving the way for him to take the oath for a third consecutive term, a first for any ruling alliance since 1962. The NDA has won 293 seats in the Lok Sabha election, comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member House. Besides, 10 Independents have also extended their support to NDA and its partners, making its tally to 303.
Though, the new Government is likely to be different in composition and character with a bigger share for the BJP's allies. "NDA MPs will meet on June 7 and the alliance leaders will then go to the President of India to submit their letters of support, HAM (Secular) leader and former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said after attending the meeting. How soon the BJP and its allies reach an agreement on matters like the share of Ministries each party may get and other terms of negotiations could also be a factor in deciding the timing of the swearing-in or they could put off the tricky issues for resolution at a later stage.
Sources said the second meeting of the NDA partners' leaders will take place on Friday and on the same day, they will stake the claim to form the Government. Sources said senior BJP leaders JP Nadda, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Piyush Goyal have been assigned to coordinate with NDA partners.
Earlier in the day, Modi tendered his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu along with his Council of Ministers after the Cabinet meeting.
The current 17th Lok Sabha's term ends on June 16, making this transition a timely and crucial phase in India's democratic process.
In the resolution passed at the NDA meeting, the leaders underlined the alliance Government's commitment to serving poor, women, youth, farmers and deprived sections of society. "We are all proud that the NDA fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls unitedly under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and won. We all NDA leaders unanimously elect Narendra Modi as our leader," it added.
The leaders said Modi has a "clear vision for Viksit Bharat" and they are "partners" in this goal.They further appreciated "PM's efforts towards poverty eradication", and agreed to work harder towards the goal. According to a press release, Modi said that the Lok Sabha election result "was a historic mandate for the 3rd consecutive government which was last received in India 60 years back".
The resolution also said that people have seen the country being developed in every sector in the last 10 years due to the pro-people policies of the NDA government under Modi.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu, Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whom the poll pundits are calling the 'kingmakers' after the BJP's subpar performance in the Lok Sabha elections, Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan were among those who were present at the meeting Senior BJP leaders Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, JP Nadda were also in attendance. The TDP, JD(U), Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the LJP (Ram Vilas) have won 16, 12, seven and five seats respectively and will play a crucial role in the Government formation.
Insiders said Bihar Chief Minister wanted Narendra Modi to act fast and there should not be any delay in the process of government formation."Jaldi kijiye (act fast)," he told PM during the NDA meet. "There should not be any delay in forming the government. We should do it as soon as possible," sources quoted Kumar as saying in a meeting of NDA alliance partners. JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha said the NDA meeting was chaired at the PM's residence, which was also attended by CM (Nitish Kumar). "Everyone put forth their views and thanked the public for this mandate to the NDA for a third time. The government under the leadership of Narendra Modi will soon be formed, and very soon a meeting of all the MPs will take place," he said
Parties like the TDP and the JD(U) are expected to demand some key portfolios as their support will be crucial for government formation and survival. Sources said TDP is reportedly asked for education, health, Lok Sabha speaker's post and MoS in finance while the BJP hinted at party's intent to retain five key ministries in the potential coalition government of NDA , including Finance, Railway,Home,IT and Law , citing plans for the Modi government 3:0 with increased focus in these sectors. The JD(U) and Chirag Paswan's LJP both may demand the railways ministry while rural development and agriculture could also be part of the bargain.
Earlier, Modi called on President Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan and tendered his resignation along with the Union Council of Ministers. The President accepted the resignation and requested the prime minister and the Union Council of Ministers to continue in office till the new Government is formed. After that, the Rashtrapati Bhawan issued an order dissolving the 17th Lok Sabha.
Before resigning as the Prime Minister, Modi addressed his Cabinet of Ministers in Modi 2.0 earlier in the day and told them that "winning and losing is just part of politics". "Winning and losing are part of politics. The number game keeps going on. We have done good work for ten years and will continue to do so in the future as well," he said. The meeting at the Prime Minister's residence began at 11.30 am. This was the last meeting of the Modi 2.0 Cabinet and Council of Ministers. "The ruling organisation has lived up to the expectations of the people everywhere and will do so in the future too. All of you have worked well and worked very hard," he told his council of ministers.
While the NDA is comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the BJP, which won 240 seats, has fallen short of the magic number for the first time since 2014 and is critically dependent on its allies for Government formation.
Ahead of attending the NDA partners' meeting in Delhi, Chandrababu Naidu had said, "We are in NDA. I am going for an NDA meeting. In the course of time, if there is anything we will report to you.
