PM Narendra Modi met LK Advani after a key NDA gathering today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met senior BJP leader LK Advani today before he went to stake claim to form government for a third consecutive time. PM Modi also met BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi at his home, and took his blessings.
The BJP won 240 seats, despite its "400-paar" campaign, while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 293 seats and crossed the majority mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
The NDA has chosen PM Modi as the leader of the alliance, which paved the way for his oath ceremony as Prime Minister for a third term.
Mr Advani, who was conferred India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in February, had been a deputy prime minister. He also served as BJP chief for the longest time since the party was founded in 1980. Mr Advani is credited with crafting the BJP's rise through the 1990s when it came to power for the first time as the head of coalition governments under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Mr Advani had labelled himself the "charioteer" who steered the 'rath yatra' that began in Gujarat's Somnath on September 25, 1990, and culminated with the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, with Mr Advani on the spot.
Mr Advani returned to Ayodhya on January 22 to see PM Modi, back then his aide, headline the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple.
In the recently held Lok Sabha election, the BJP lost the Faizabad seat - where Ayodhya is located - to the Samajwadi Party.