Naidu, Nitish sign support to BJP, govt formation likely on Saturday
NEW DELHI: Amid reports of the BJP securing written letters of support from TDP and JDU leaders Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar, party leader Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance’s members, who unanimously elected him as their leader.
The day was marked by intense political activity following the Lok Sabha election results that granted a comfortable majority to the NDA. Preparing to take oath for a third straight term, Modi submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday. Subsequently, the 17th Lok Sabha was dissolved.
PM Modi’s resignation was accepted by the President who asked him to continue till the new government assumes office, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said.
“The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, met the President today and tendered his resignation along with the Council of Ministers. The President has accepted the resignation and requested Shri Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new Government assumes office,” the communique said.
Earlier in the day, President Murmu dissolved the 17th Lok Sabha on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet. The term of the current 17th Lok Sabha ends on June 16. The Cabinet, in its meeting held on Wednesday, advised the President to dissolve the current Lok Sabha with immediate effect, it said.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a majority in the Lok Sabha election.
The new government may be sworn in on Saturday as there is a general view to act fast on the government formation process. “Jaldi kijiye (Act Fast)’’ Nitish Kumar told the PM during the NDA meeting.
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 critically depends on its allies for government formation. The Congress, part of the Opposition INDIA alliance, won 99 seats in the elections as against 52 in 2019, eating into the BJP’s share in Rajasthan and Haryana.
NDA MPs will meet on June 7 to formally elect Modi as their leader and the alliance leaders will then go to the President 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 agree 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.
TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, LJP(R) leader Chirag Paswan, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, Jana Sena’s Pawan Kalyan, AGP’s Atul Bora and NCP’s Praful Patel were among the 21 leaders from 16 parties who attended the meeting besides Modi and BJP’s Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and J P Nadda.
Janata Dal (United) leader Sanjay Jha, who was present in the meeting, said the formalities related to the formation of the government at the Centre under Modi are expected to be over soon. All parties expressed confidence in Modi’s leadership, he added.
A resolution passed at the meeting said the NDA government will continue working to lift people’s living standards for the country’s all-round development while conserving its heritage.
“We are all proud that the NDA fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls unitedly under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and won. We all NDA leaders unanimously elect Narendra Modi as our leader,” it added.
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.
The NDA will pave the way for Modi to take the oath for a third consecutive term, a first for any ruling alliance since the time of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
However, it will be a different act of accommodation and navigation for him this time as the BJP has fallen well short of the majority and depends on allies for the government-formation after enjoying a comfortable majority on its own in the previous two terms of his government.
Hosting the meeting, the BJP presented a picture of collective partnership with its allies with Naidu, Kumar and Shinde seated to the left of Modi while Nadda, Singh and Shah flanked Modi on his right. In terms of their parties’ strength, Naidu, Kumar and Shinde are the three biggest NDA constituents in that order after the BJP.
The parties of Naidu and Kumar, who together command the support of 28 MPs, have rubbished speculation on their future moves. Naidu has reiterated his support to the BJP, a view echoed by JD(U) as well.
Asked by a journalist if he is in the NDA, Naidu shot back: “We contested the elections together. Why do you doubt?.”
All leaders congratulated Modi for his leadership and the strides our nation has made under him. They appreciated the PM’s hard work and efforts in nation-building, he said.
Modi said at the meeting that it was a historic mandate for the NDA’s third consecutive government which, he noted, was last received in the country over 60 years back.
His allies lauded Modi for his clear vision for “Viksit Bharat” and asserted that they are partners in this goal. They also praised him for enhancing India’s pride in the world, besides his efforts towards poverty eradication and pledged to continue the good work.
