Chandrababu Naidu attended the NDA's meeting in Delhi today (File/ANI)
After attending the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting in Delhi today to discuss the formation of the new government, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu affirmed that his party is with the NDA and asked how can they contest elections collectively without being a part of the alliance.
It was a good meeting, Mr Naidu said after meeting the BJP's top leadership.
Asked about being a part of the NDA, he said, "How can we contest elections if we are not a part of the NDA? We fought this collectively."
Notably, NDA leaders unanimously passed a resolution in the meeting at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence, electing the PM as their leader.
The meeting was attended by BJP president JP Nadda, BJP leaders Amit Shah, and Rajnath Singh, BJP's allies including Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy, Janasena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, and Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel among others.
Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar's participation in the NDA meeting is a significant step as the support of their parties is crucial for the BJP to form the government. This time, the BJP fell 32 seats short of the majority mark of 272 and will need to rely on its allies to form a government.
As per results announced by the Election Commission of India, the BJP won 240 seats and the Congress 99 seats. BJP had won 303 seats in 2019 and 282 seats in 2014.
Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu dissolved the 17th Lok Sabha today after the recommendation of the Union Cabinet.
"The President accepted the advice of the Cabinet on June 5, 2024, and signed the Order dissolving the 17th Lok Sabha in the exercise of the powers conferred upon her by Sub-Clause (2) of Article 85 of the Constitution," a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
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