The President Ram Nath Kovind accepted PM Modi’s resignation and requested him and the Union Council of Ministers to continue in office till the new government is formed.
The Union Cabinet met on Friday evening to ask the President to dissolve the 16th Lok Sabha, the first step to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA starting its second innings next week.
PM Modi will hand over the Cabinet’s recommendation to the President when he calls on him later in the evening, according to news agency ANI.
PM Modi will be formally named as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance parliamentary party that will meet tomorrow evening.
PM Modi had led the Bharatiya Janata Party and the NDA to a super-sized victory. The alliance picked up 349 of the Lok Sabha’s 542 seats. The BJP won 302 seats, far beyond the 272 that the party needs for a majority in the Lok Sabha.
This is the first time since 1971 that a Prime Minister has been re-elected to office with an outright majority.
PM Modi will also meet his Union Council of ministers on Friday, government spokesperson Sitanshu Kar wrote on his Twitter handle. The spokesperson said the dates for the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister and new council of ministers wasn’t yet to be decided.
Also read | To set government-formation ball rolling, PM Modi to meet President today after Cabinet huddle
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah visited veteran leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to seek their blessings after the BJP-led NDA won a second term with a resounding majority.
The BJP’s alone walked away with 303 Lok Sabha seats in a stupendous performance across the country from Rajasthan to the Northeast and from Jammu and Kashmir to Andhra Pradesh.
Congress has suffered a major defeat in this election and managed to get only 52 seats.
Analysts have widely credited PM Modi for his massive victory win but also pointed out that the challenge for the Prime Minister begins now. From a range of crucial foreign policy decisions to addressing the situation in Kashmir, the PM will have his plate full.
First Published:
May 24, 2019 18:51 IST
Source: HindustanTimes