President Ram Nath Kovind Invites PM Narendra Modi To Form Government

PM-elect coins new slogan — Nara — for National Ambition

& Regional Aspiration — to describe NDA’s political strategy

NEW DELHI: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi tendered resignation of his Council of Ministers, President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday invited him to form the next government.

“Exercising powers vested in him under Article 75 (1) of the Constitution, the President on Saturday appointed Narendra Modi to the office of Prime Minister of India,” a communique from Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

The President also asked Modi to intimate him about the names of others to be appointed members of the Union Council of Ministers and indicate the date and time of the swearing-in ceremony to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Modi was formally invited when he called on the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday evening in his capacity as leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party, which has majority support in the Lok Sabha following the general election.

A delegation of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), comprising Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and senior leaders Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, and Nitin Gadkari, Akali Dal’s Parkash Singh Badal, Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thakeray, AIADMK’s K. Palaniswami, NPP’s Conrad Sangma and NDPP’s Neiphiu Rio also accompanied Modi.

“A letter stating that Narendra Modi has been elected leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party was handed over to the President. Letters of support from NDA constituent parties were also handed over to the President,” said the communique.

Earlier on Saturday evening, leaders of the 40-member NDA met here to formally name Narendra Modi as the national coalition’s leader and the next Prime Minister. The NDA leaders then headed to Rashtrapati Bhavan to convey their decision to President Ram Nath Kovind at 7 pm. PM Modi met President Kovind a little later to formally stake claim and pick up his invite to form the next government.

The Prime Minister is expected to take oath early next week after visiting his home State Gujarat to seek his mother’s blessings and then fly down for a quick thanksgiving trip to his constituency Varanasi where he received 64 per cent of all votes.

The NDA?swept the Lok?Sabha elections winning 349 of the 542 seats for which polls were held and garnered almost 45 per cent of the votes across the country.

Earlier Saturday, President Kovind dissolved the 16th Lok Sabha with immediate effect on recommendation of the Union cabinet, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to hit the ground running with a 1,000-day agenda that will run up to the first half of 2022 which will also mark the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.

The 1000-day agenda will include several initiatives, from empowering women in agriculture to sending an Indian into space as part of Modi’s promise of creating a “New India” in his second term.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today coined a new slogan “Nara” — short for “national ambition” and “regional aspiration” — to describe the political strategy that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) plans to adopt in the wake of its massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections. Nara is also the Hindi word for slogan.

“The NDA has energy, the NDA has synergy. The NDA has national ambition, the NDA has regional aspiration. Put the two together, and we become ‘Nara’. We will move forward with this,” PM Modi said in an address delivered after he was formally elected as the leader of the NDA in the central hall of parliament today. He is expected to be re-sworn as the country’s 15th Prime Minister next week.

PM Modi said that the victory of the BJP-led alliance went to show that India has recognised it as a force of progress, and it faces no credible opponent in the political arena today. “I was once asked if I see anybody as Modi’s challenger. I told him then that only Modi is Modi’s challenger,” he told a bemused audience of top NDA leaders.

The NDA notched 352 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, roaring past the halfway mark of 272 to form the next government. While the BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 303 seats, a hike of 21 over its 2014 tally, the Congress-led combine at the other end could manage just 91.

The Prime Minister said that the NDA ended up breaking records set in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections only because of the people’s trust in his governance. “The people have voted for pro-incumbency in such a manner for the first time. They have accepted us because of our work and what we have delivered. The number of votes that Donald Trump won (in the 2016 US presidential elections) was just the increment we received over the previous Lok Sabha election,” he said, laughing.

PM Modi claimed that the NDA’s victory showed how India was “maturing” as a democracy with each passing day. “Not just in India but Indians around the world... it is amazing how they have involved themselves in the process. We are very proud, and I thank them,” he said.

The Prime Minister repeatedly alluded to his commitment to the poor and the minority communities during the address, which extended for over an hour. “The country has this ‘Garibi’ tag that urgently needs to be removed. Even minorities are kept away all the time and used only during the elections. But we believe in ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. Those who vote for us are ours, and those who oppose us are ours too,” he said. (IANS & agencies)

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