BJP to elect Modi leader on May 20

The BJP parliamentary party will meet on May 20 to formally elect  Narendra Modi as their leader. Later, Modi will meet President Pranab Mukherjee to stake his claim to form the government.

The 25 NDA allies will be called for Tuesday’s meeting to endorse BJP parliamentary party’s decision to choose Modi as the leader, which is now a mere formality given the historic verdict the saffron party got in the Lok Sabha elections.

After the 11-member BJP parliamentary board met on Saturday, BJP president Rajnath Singh told reporters that the parliamentary party will meet on Tuesday noon  to elect its leader and said, “We all know who will be chosen our leader”.

Singh said the date of oath-taking has not been decided although it is speculated that Modi might be crowned either on May 21 or 24. The party will have to expedite the government formation exercise as the 16th Lok Sabha has to be convened before June 1.
The parliamentary board hailed the Modi-led win, given that the BJP got 282 seats on its own, surpassing its 272+ mission. It also spoke of the NDA government priority to put the economy on fast track.

“The NDA has got an overwhelming mandate to govern. India needs a government which is effectively led, and can put the country’s economy on a growth track, make it secure and provide a government in accordance with the highest standard of probity,” the parliamentary board resolution read.

While thanking the people “for reposing faith in the BJP”, the board expressed its deep sense of appreciation for all its workers’ effort and “inspirational and visionary leadership (of Modi) which caught the imagination of the people of India...”

Modi, his mentor L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, M Venkaiah Naidu and M M Joshi among the leaders present at the press meet.  Advani, who was not willing to give full credit to Modi for the emphatic victory, gave the PM pick a tight hug at the meeting and a bouquet of flowers at the press meet. Modi’s interaction with journalists, however, was confined only to thanksgiving to voters for the massive mandate and media for creating awareness among the electorate that led to a large turnout. “You are my own, we will keep on meeting,” he concluded. Modi is facing a problem of plenty with pressure coming from his own party-ruled states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where the BJP swept the polls.

Besides, he will have to accommodate allies, numbering 25, and some states, where it has plans to expand its base.

Some of the allies have already arrived in Delhi to stake their claim for berths in the Cabinet. The party also designated various leaders as observers to choose the leaders of newly elected MLAs of four states where Assembly polls were held along with Lok Sabha election.