With the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) electing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its leader for a third straight term, the formal process of the formation of the new government has begun under his leadership.
“We are all proud that the NDA fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls unitedly under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and won. We, the leaders of the NDA, unanimously elect Narendra Modi as our leader,” said the 15-party alliance in a three-paragraph resolution passed by its top leadership in New Delhi after a meeting at the Prime Minister’s official residence.
Hours before the NDA crucial meet, Narendra Modi met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan and submitted his resignation. He also requested her to dissolve the current Lok Sabha in order to welcome the newly elected members in the lower house of the parliament.
The NDA resolution further said that people have seen the country being developed in the last 10 years with the pro-people policies of the Modi- led government. It also underlined the government’s commitment to serve the poor, women, youths, farmers and deprived sections of society.
The meeting, which was convened by the Prime Minister, was attended by 21 leaders of the constituent parties who had flown in the national capital from different parts of India. They included Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar, Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, and Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, the three leaders key to the numbers.
The TDP won 16 Lok Sabha seats (its partner the Jana Sena won two, so it should be counted as 18); the JD(U), 12; and the Shiv Sena, 7. The 37 seats, added to the BJP’s 240, take the party safely beyond the majority mark of 272.
The other significant parties of the NDA, in terms of numbers, are Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (RV), with 5 seats, and Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and HD Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular), with 2 each.
