June 5 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) deliberated on the details of government formation at a meeting in New Delhi Wednesday. The meeting came a day after the ruling coalition won a majority in the Lok Sabha election, which paved the way for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term.
The National Democratic Alliance is likely to meet President Droupadi Murmu later on Wednesday and stake claim to form the government under Narendra Modi’s leadership, TV news channels reported.
TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, JD(U) leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan were among those who were present at the meeting chaired by Modi. Senior BJP leaders were also in attendance.
The TDP, JD(U), Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the LJP (Ram Vilas) have won 16, 12, seven and five seats, respectively and will play a crucial role in the government formation.
“The NDA meeting was chaired at the PM’s residence, which was also attended by CM (Nitish Kumar). Everyone put forth their views and thanked the public for this mandate to the NDA for a third time. The government under the leadership of Narendra Modi will soon be formed, and very soon a meeting of all the MPs will take place,” said JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha.
Eknath Shinde said he arrived in New Delhi to support Modi in forming the government. “Modiji has got a majority. The NDA will form the government under Modiji’s leadership,” Shinde told reporters at the Delhi airport.
Though there was no official word on the date for the oath-taking ceremony, there is a view among some members of the alliance that it may take place over the weekend if the contours of the new government are quickly worked out.
Parties such as the TDP and the JD(U) are expected to demand some key portfolios as their support will be crucial for government formation and survival.
While the NDA is comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the BJP, which won 240 seats, has fallen short of the magic number for the first time since 2014 and critically depends on its allies.