The countdown to Narendra Modi’s third successive term as Prime Minister beganOn Friday evening, President Droupadi Murmu invited him to form the next government at the center when he called on her at Rashtrapati Bhavan. A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said later in the evening that the President will administer the Oath of Office and Secrecy to the Prime Minister and other members of the Union Council of Ministers on June 9, 2024, at 7:15 p.m. at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Earlier, at their meeting, the President handed over to Mr. Modi a formal letter inviting him to form the new government. Before that, all senior National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders met the President and informed her that they unanimously supported Mr. Modi’s candidacy as
Prime Minister to form the new government.
Mr. Modi called on former President Ram Nath Kovind and BJP stalwarts LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi before making a claim to form the government for the third time.
Briefing media persons after meeting the President, the Prime Minister said that he should be able to prepare the list of the new Council of Ministers by Saturday and communicate it to her for the Sunday ceremony.
Following a crucial meeting of the NDA in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan, the old Parliament House, where Mr. Modi was unanimously elected as leader of the BJP-led NDA, leaders of several NDA member parties called on BJP President JP Nadda at his residence and communicated their priorities and expectations for their parties’ representation in the new Central Ministry.
Speaking to media persons before leaving Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mr. Modi said the 18th Lok Sabha election was the first after the Amrit Mahotsav of India’s independence (75th anniversary) and marked the beginning of the 25 years to the 100th anniversary of independence in 2047, the period during which the nation’s dreams should be realized.