NDA MPs to meet on Friday to elect Modi as their leader

Newly elected MPs of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance are expected to meet on Friday to elect Narendra Modi as their leader, paving the way for him to take oath as prime minister for a third term. The swearing-in is likely to be held on Sunday.

After Modi's election as the leader of NDA MPs, senior members of the alliance like TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar will join the prime minister for a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu to present her the list of parliamentarians supporting him, some alliance members said.

He may be sworn in over the weekend, possibly Sunday, they added. The NDA has 293 MPs, comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

Senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, held deliberations through the day on Thursday as the party set in motion government formation efforts amid a demand by a senior Janata Dal (United) leader that his party should receive respectable representation in the Union Council of Ministers.

"The matter of cabinet berths will be decided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and our party chief Nitish Kumar ji. But, it should be respectable," Shrawan Kumar, JD(U) leader and Bihar Rural Development Minister, told PTI in Patna.

There should be three ministerial berths for his party, another JD(U) leader demanded.

Another BJP ally and LJP(R) leader Chirag Paswan, who is seen as a contender for a Cabinet berth, said his party's support to Modi is unconditional, stressing that it was under his leadership that the NDA has won a majority.

Shiv Sena sources said that instead of his son and three-term MP Shrikant Shinde, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde wants other senior MPs to be considered for ministerial roles.

"The chief minister has always maintained that the son of a king should not necessarily become a king and whoever performs will become the king," the source said.

Eknath Shinde has always maintained that merit should be prioritised over family connections, according to the source.

All NDA constituents are likely to present letters of their support to the President for Modi as the new prime minister on Friday, he added.