Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during a public meeting ahead of Lok Sabha elections, in Nagarkurnool, Telangana, Saturday, March 16, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Confident of coming back to power for a third consecutive term, prime minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked his Cabinet colleagues to work on a roadmap for the first 100 days of the government. He also asked them to work out the agenda for the first 100 days which will see through the government for the next five years.
During the meeting Sunday morning, the Cabinet also started the notification process by sending the Election Commission’s recommendation on the dates of the seven-phase parliamentary elections to President Droupadi Murmu.
The first notification will be issued on March 20 for the first phase of polls on April 19 on 102 seats.
Modi also asked the ministers to speak to their secretaries as well as other senior officials to come up with the agenda. This is the second time he has asked his ministers to work on a roadmap; earlier this month, he asked his council of ministers to brainstorm over a vision document for Viksit Bharat 2047, where a detailed action plan for next five years was discussed.
The Viksit Bharat agenda, government sources had then said, involved intensive planning that spanned two years. More than 2700 meetings, workshops and seminars were held at various levels. Suggestions of more than 20 lakh youth were received, as per officials.
Several key faces of the Modi Cabinet have been announced as candidates for the upcoming elections. Apart from Modi, home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh, the BJP has till now announced Nitin Gadkari (road transport and highways), Smriti Irani (WCD and minority affairs), Pralhad Joshi (parliamentary affairs), Jyotiraditya Scindia (aviation), Anurag Thakur (I&B), among others.
Cabinet members who are Rajya Sabha MPs, such as Piyush Goyal (commerce), Bhupender Yadav (labour and environment), Sarbananda Sonowal (AYUSH and shipping) and Rajeev Chandrasekhar (IT), have also been fielded by the party.
The BJP has set a target of winning at least 370 seats in the upcoming polls, with an aim of the NDA crossing the 400 mark tally.