Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in for a third consecutive term, the newly elected MPs of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will finalise the list of cabinet ministers today in a crucial meeting.
PM Modi will take oath, as too will members of his new cabinet, tomorrow evening at a grand ceremony. He will be the first three-term Prime Minister since Congress stalwart Jawaharlal Nehru.
The BJP won 240 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, but fell 32 short of the majority mark. The four allies whose support is critical for the BJP to reach the majority are N Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, which has won 16 seats, Nitish Kumar's JDU (12), Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena (7) and Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (5).
TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and JDU's Nitish Kumar - who have emerged as kingmakers at this crucial juncture - yesterday publicly accepted the proposal to elect Mr Modi as the alliance's prime ministerial candidate. It is learnt that they have also given written support to PM Modi amid speculations that the Opposition leaders could approach them in a bid to stake claim.
The spotlight is now on negotiations between the BJP and its two key allies - TDP and JD(U) - each of which is batting for plum posts at the Centre. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction and the LJP of Chirag Paswan are also seeking key portfolios in the new cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The INDIA bloc, meanwhile, defied exit pollsters to mount a real challenge to the BJP in a national election - a first since the 'Modi wave' swept it to power in 2014. The opposition alliance finished with 232 seats - 40 short of the 272-majority mark. The Congress, which led the INDIA opposition bloc in this election, finished with 99 wins from the 328 seats it contested.
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