DEHLI (CNI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may have fallen 32 seats short of the Lok Sabha majority mark, but their National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners have come to their aid, ensuring that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be serving a third term. With NDA members contributing 53 MPs to the coalition, the BJP will retain power.
President Droupadi Murmu has extended an invitation to Mr Modi to form the next union government, following the coalition’s victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The oath-taking ceremony for Mr Modi and his new cabinet members is scheduled for 6 pm on Sunday.
A statement released by Rashtrapati Bhavan declared that Ms Murmu has confirmed the NDA alliance’s ability to command a majority support in the newly constituted 18th Lok Sabha and establish a stable government. The support received from various parties has paved the way for Mr Modi’s continued leadership.
The communique said it had, therefore, appointed Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of India.
Mr Modi will be the first three-term PM since Congress stalwart Jawaharlal Nehru.
Mr. Modi, 73, was officially named the leader of the NDA’s newly-elected MPs yesterday. Rajnath Singh proposed his nomination, which was supported by all member parties.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Modi emphasized the importance of coalition politics, stating, “Our alliance embodies the essence of India and we are committed to upholding constitutional values. The NDA has been incredibly successful.” He also took the opportunity to criticize the Congress and the opposition INDIA bloc, which surprised many by mounting a strong challenge to the BJP despite exit poll predictions.
The INDIA bloc, which includes parties like the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool, and DMK, garnered a total of 232 seats in the recent elections.
The Congress, on the other hand, only managed to win 99 seats out of the 328 it contested. This was the party’s best performance in 15 years, a significant improvement from their 2014 and 2019 results of 44 and 52 seats respectively. While there were rumors of the party trying to woo Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu to switch sides, these speculations have been downplayed for now.(CNI)
