Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to take oath for the third time on Saturday which will make him the only prime minister of India to be a three-term PM since the second PM of the state, Jawaharlal Nehru.
PM Modi presented his and his cabinet’s resignation to President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. He was then asked to remain in the position until the swearing-in ceremony was held. Narendra Modi will take oath on Saturday and subsequently submitted his resignation to the President.
Prime Minister @narendramodi called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Prime Minister tendered his resignation along with the Union Council of Ministers. The President accepted the resignation and requested the Prime Minister and the Union Council of Ministers… pic.twitter.com/1ZeSwQFU1y
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) June 5, 2024
Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which predicted 282 seats in the 2014 elections and 303 in the 2019 polls, secured only 240 seats this time around – 32 votes short of the 272 necessary for an absolute parliamentary majority. It will now have to depend on 53 which has been secured by the members of the party that leads the National Democratic Alliance to get the third term.
Mr Modi maintained his Lok Sabha seat in Varanasi, winning 3-0 against Congress candidate Ajay Rain with 5 lakh votes to win the parliamentary polls thrice from the temple city.
Earlier today the incumbent Prime Minister – who last night assured that the NDA would approach the EC to claim for forming a government for the third time describing the polls as a triumph of the biggest democratic nation on earth – presided over a Union Cabinet meeting for the last time in this government.
The BJP had fixed a target of 370 seats (400 plus the NDA partners), but there was a serious check by the opposition alliance- the Congress-led INDIA bloc. The opposition now consists of 232 seats after an impressive campaign that contradicted the exit polls and reduced the BJP’s margin in the major regions.
The BJP, however, had enough in its reserve to end up as the single largest party again – thanks to superior performances in Odisha (20-21), Andhra Pradesh (21-25), Madhya Pradesh (29-29), and Bihar (30-40), to compensate the set back there and other places.
Significantly, the BJP also made a breakthrough in Kerala to win its first-ever Lok Sabha seat in the southern state. The BJP has historically struggled in the south, but the Kerala and Andhra results, as well as doubling its Telangana tally to eight, suggest a change. The party did, however, finish with zero seats in Tamil Nadu for a second consecutive election. The ruling DMK and INDIA bloc allies won all 39 seats.
READ: LOK SABHA ELECTION RESULTS: BJP-LED NDA ATTAINS MAJORITY, SET TO FORMING GOVERNMENT