modi to be sworn in on May 26

New Delhi: Narendra Modi will take oath as 15th Prime Minister of India on May 26. President Pranab Mukherjee extended the invitation to him to form the next government to him after 29 allies of the NDA submitted their letters of support to him. The swearing-in will take place on the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, at the very place, where former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had taken oath in 1998.

“Yes, he will,” stated BJP President Rajnath Singh, while declaring Modi elected as the BJP Parliamentary Party Leader, endorsing what Modi in his speech in Hyderabad had remarked, “Yes, we can.” Reposing the same confidence in Modi, 15-member NDA delegation including SAD supremo and Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister-Designate N Chandrababu Naidu, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan called on the President, lending him their support. The BJP Parliamentary Party meeting was held in the historic Central Hall of Parliament, where BJP Patriarch L K Advani proposed the name of Modi.

It was seconded by former BJP presidents – Murli Manohar Joshi, M Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari – and by the floor leader in outgoing Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, and the floor leader in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley. Among others, who seconded Modi’s name, were carefully chosen to represent the weaker sections, like Deputy Speaker in outgoing Lok Sabha Karia Munda, Thawarchand Gehlot, Gopinath Munde, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Amid the thumping of desks, he was declared elected. Later, all the 29 allies of the BJP endorsed Modi’s name as NDA Parliamentary Party Leader.