Narendra Modi invited to form India's next government

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The proposal was seconded by senior bjp leaders such as murli manohar joshi m venkaiah naidu nitin gadkari sushma swaraj karia munda gopinath munde and ravi shankar prasad.

prime minister-elect narendra modi hugs bjp leader lal krishna advani as party president rajnath singh watches during the bjp parliamentary party meeting in new delhi on tuesday. — ap

president pranab mukherjee on tuesday invited bharatiya janata party (bjp) parliamentary party leader narendra modi to form india’s next government four days after his party registered an overwhelming victory in the elections to the lok sabha or lower house of parliament.

talking to newspersons on his way out modi 63 told waiting journalists in the forecourt of rashtrapati bhavan that he would be sworn in as the country’s next prime minister in the evening of may 26.

modi who has been the chief minister of gujarat since late 2001 was earlier in the day elected as the leader of the bjp’s parliamentary party consisting of its newly-elected members of the lok sabha and the sitting members of the rajya sabha.

former deputy prime minister lal krishna advani 86 who had himself nursed prime ministerial ambitions at one time proposed modi’s name for the position at the meeting held in the central hall of parliament.

the proposal was seconded by senior bjp leaders such as murli manohar joshi m venkaiah naidu nitin gadkari sushma swaraj karia munda gopinath munde and ravi shankar prasad.

later the motion was carried by a voice vote by the meeting attended by the newly-elected bjp members of the lok sabha and sitting members of the rajya sabha and other party leaders.

bjp president rajnath singh who also functioned as returning officer for the purpose conducted the proceedings. he pointed out that it was a historic moment because this was the first time that a non-congress party had won a majority on its own in the 543-member lok sabha.

after this the various leaders felicitated modi by presenting him bouquets and accorded him a standing ovation.

this incidentally was the first time ever that modi was entering the historic central hall of parliament where india’s constituent assembly had met from 1946 to 1950 and drafted and adopted the country’s constitution.

the hall is now used for among other things joint sittings of the two houses of parliament.

later in the day the bjp’s allies in the national democratic alliance including shiromani akali dal the shiv sena the telugu desam party and the lok janshakti party was expected to endorse modi as their nominee for the top job.

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