Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reached the houses of veteran BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi and met with them before staking claim to form the third consecutive government at the Centre.
At first he met LK Advani and then went to the residence of Joshi, former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Notably, PM Modi reached their residence soon after being chosen by all the coalition parties as the leader of NDA, leader of the BJP in Lok Sabha and the leader of the BJP parliamentary party.
PM Modi chosen as the leader of NDA
During the meeting of the newly elected MPs, PM Modi expressed gratitude to all the leaders of the constituent parties present in the Parliament after he was elected as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). “I express my heartfelt gratitude to all the leaders of the constituent parties present in this assembly hall, all the newly elected MPs and our Rajya Sabha MPs. It is a matter of happiness for me that I have had the opportunity to welcome such a large group here today. All those leaders who have come victorious deserve congratulations. The lakhs of workers who have worked day and night, today from this central hall, I bow down and salute them,” he said at the meeting.
He also said that people have given NDA, the opportunity to form a government and serve in 22 states, emphasising the strength of the Indian democracy. He also hailed the saying that in 10 tribal-dominated states, NDA is serving 7 states. Lashing out at the opposition, PM said that they always abused EVMs and had decided to ensure that people stop believing in democracy and democratic process of India, however, the EVMs silenced them by the evening of the result day.
NDA stakes claim to form government
As the NDA conceived the majority, PM Modi is all set to form the government at the centre. After meeting both the veteran leaders, he and other NDA constituent parties’ leaders went to the Rashtrapati Bhawan and called on President Droupadi Murmu for staking claim to form the government.
Notably, the BJP has got 240 seats while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has got 293 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections and enjoys majority in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
Fedelia Mcgree