President Droupadi Murmu greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan ahead of government formation, in New Delhi.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Friday invited Narendra Modi to form the government for the third consecutive time, after letters of support were submitted by leaders of the National Democratic Alliance parties as well as the BJP Parliamentary Party electing him as their leader. Swearing in for the third Modi government will now take place on Sunday at 7:15 pm.
“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 Shri Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India exercising powers vested in her under Article 75(1) of the Constitution of India,” a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhawan read.
Coming out of the meeting, Modi addressed reporters. “The President had just called me now, and has appointed me the Prime Minister designate,” he said. Sources in the BJP said that 30 ministers could be sworn in.
Earlier in the day, leaders as well as members of the NDA Parliamentary Party as well as the BJP Parliamentary party met at the Central Hall of Parliament to propose Modi’s name as their leader as well as the leader of the Lok Sabha, effectively making him the PM elect. In the meeting, leaders of the NDA made their presence felt, and the BJP praised the coalition.
Former BJP Chief Rajnath Singh moved a resolution to propose Modi’s name, which was seconded by Amit Shah, then Nitin Gadkari, then former Karnataka CM and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, then TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu, JD(U) leader and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, NCP’s Ajit Pawar, Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan, HAM’s Jitan Manjhi, Apna Dal (Sonelal)’s Anupriya Patel and finally, Jana Sena’s Pawan Kalyan.
Speaking to the gathering, Modi said that the country has chosen the NDA, a grouping that has been in existence for the last three decades and hit out at Congress, saying that its tally in the last three Lok Sabha polls has been less than the BJP MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha. He also said that he hopes to hear more debate in the Parliament, especially from the Opposition. Modi also paid a visit to party veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi at their respective residences right after this meeting.
Calling the NDA an “organic alliance” whose seeds were sown by stalwarts like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Parkash Singh Badal, Balasaheb Thackeray, George Fernandes, Sharad Yadav in the past, Modi said that it is now an all enveloping tree. “This is the most successful alliance; in 30 years of existence, we have been in power for 15 and will now enter our fourth term,” Modi said, adding that in 22 states, there is a NDA government, including 7 of the 10 states where the aadivasi population is a decisive majority.
“To run a government, you need a majority, but to run a country, you need unanimity,” Modi said, as he asserted that the NDA government will be in power for the next 10 years.
He also spoke about the BJP coming to power in Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh, and the NDA forming governments in Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim. Modi also thanked the workers in all the states in the South, especially Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and also in Jammu and Kashmir.
Chandrababu Naidu, speaking at the meet, said that Modi’s tireless work helped the TDP and Jana Sena combine in Andhra. “He took out three rallies every day for 2 months, and people were confident that the centre is with the state, this helped us immensely,” Naidu said.
Nitish Kumar, who drew laughs from everyone including Modi, said that he is happy now that all the work of Bihar will be done. “It is a very good thing that all of us have come together and we will all work together with you (PM Modi). You will be swearing in as the Prime Minister on Sunday, but I wanted you to do it today itself. Some people got in here and there this term adding to your loss, but let me tell you the next time they won’t be there,” he said.
At the meet, on one hand, leaders of the BJP sought to ensure that Modi’s importance shone through – with all the senior NDA leaders waiting for him on the dias and then according a grand welcome while chants of “Modi”, “Modi” rang through the air. On the other hand, however, leaders of the BJP had to tone down the assertions after their chants of “ab ki baar Modi Sarkar” had to be changed to “ab ki baar NDA sarkar” few minutes later.
Before he ended his speech, Modi said to the Opposition that he does not believe that they are against the nation. “They are not against the nation, they are against the BJP. I hope that there’s more debate this term, something that I have missed in the last 10 years.”
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