Modi elected NDA parliamentary party leader

PTI, May 25, 2019, 6:27 PM IST

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was unanimously elected leader of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance on Saturday at a meeting attended by its newly elected MPs and senior leaders in Parliament’s Central Hall.

Modi will now call on President Ram Nath Kovind to stake his claim to form the government, following which he will be sworn in as the next prime minister, likely next week.

“Modi is elected the leader of the parliamentary party of 353 MPs unanimously,” BJP president Amit Shah announced after the election as Modi acknowledged the support and cheers from MPs.

Top alliance leaders, including JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray and Akali Dal’s Parkash Singh Badal, extended their party’s support after Modi was elected as the leader of the BJP parliamentary party at first.

Senior BJP leaders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were present on the dais with other alliance leaders.

Shah proposed Modi’s name and former party presidents Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari seconded the proposal.

Modi’s election was a mere formality as the NDA had already declared him the alliance’s prime ministerial candidate.

He has led the NDA to a landslide win in the general election, with the BJP winning 303 seats, its highest ever, and its allies 50.