Govt runs by ‘bahumat’, country by ‘sarvmat’: Modi
*Bonhomie, lighter moments at NDA meeting
NEW DELHI, June 7:
Narendra Modi will take oath as the Prime Minister for a third consecutive term on Sunday evening as President Droupadi Murmu has invited him to form the Government.
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Murmu appointed Modi as the Prime Minister-designate on Friday after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief J P Nadda handed her a letter on Modi’s election as the leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party and NDA leaders submitted their letters of support.
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The BJP won 240 seats in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, falling short of the halfway mark in the 543-member House, but the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) together won 293 seats, which is a comfortable majority.
“The President, having satisfied herself on the basis of the various letters of support received, that the BJP-led NDA, which is also the largest pre-election alliance, is in a position to command majority support of the newly-constituted 18th Lok Sabha and to form a stable Government, appointed Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India, exercising powers vested in her under Article 75(1) of the Constitution of India,” according to a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The President will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the Prime Minister and other members of the Union Council of Ministers at 7:15 pm on Sunday at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the communique said.
Murmu handed over the letter of appointment to Modi, who called on her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here this evening.
Earlier, leaders of the BJP-led NDA called on Murmu and handed their letters of support for Modi to her.
Addressing reporters in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Modi said he has been appointed as the Prime Minister-designate by the president.
“The President has asked me to work as the Prime Minister-designate and informed me about the oath ceremony,” he said and added that he has informed Murmu that they will be comfortable if the event is held on Sunday evening.
Modi said the Rashtrapati Bhavan will work out the details of the oath-taking ceremony on Sunday, by when he would hand over the list of the Council of Ministers to the President.
“This 18th Lok Sabha is an important milestone towards fulfilling those dreams when the country will celebrate 100 years of independence in 2047,” he said.
The 18th Lok Sabha will be a House of new energy, youthful energy, and people have given the NDA Government one more chance, Modi added.
The NDA delegation that called on Murmu was led by Nadda and included Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Ashwini Vaishnaw and C N Manjunath (all from the BJP), TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, JD(U) leaders Nitish Kumar, Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Sanjay Jha, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, LJP(RV) leader Chirag Paswan, HAM(S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan, NCP leader Ajit Pawar, Apna Dal(S) leader Anupriya Patel, RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary, UPPL leader Joyanta Basumatary, AGP leader Atul Bora, SKM leader Indra Hang Subba, AJSU leaders Sudesh Mahto and Chandra Prakash Choudhary and Ramdas Athawale from the RPI(A).
Nadda handed over a letter to the President, stating that Modi has been elected as the leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party. The NDA leaders also handed over their letters in support of the BJP to Murmu.
Earlier Modi said he would strive to ensure unanimity in running the next Government and asserted that the NDA is not a combine of some parties to get power but an organic alliance committed to the principle of ‘nation first’.
Chosen by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance as its leader to become Prime Minister for the third time, Modi said the ruling combine is committed to the constitutional principle of “sarva panth sambhava (interfaith harmony)” and mutual trust was at the core of this bloc.
“If we look at numbers, then this is the strongest coalition Government in the history of coalitions,” he said, asserting that the NDA has been the most successful pre-poll alliance since its existence for nearly 30 years, out of which it has served out three full terms and is set to start the fourth.
“We have never lost. Our conduct following June 4 shows that we know how to digest victory,” the Prime Minister said at the meeting of the NDA Parliamentary Party, and attacked opposition parties.
The result of the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls was announced on June 4.
Modi said he has been missing quality debates and participation in Parliament for 10 years and expressed hope that it may happen this time.
He said he hopes opposition leaders will be guided by national interest. “They may be in opposition to us but not to the nation. I hope they will arrive in Parliament with the sentiment of national interest,” Modi said.
“There were efforts to not acknowledge this very victory, to cast a ‘shadow of defeat’ on this victory. But all such efforts remained fruitless… Such things ‘die very young’, and it happened,” Modi said.
NDA leaders, including N Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), Nitish Kumar (JDU), Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena), Chirag Paswan (LJP-RV), H D Kumaraswamy (JDS), Ajit Pawar (NCP), Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal-S), Pawan Kalyan (Jana Sena), attended the meeting along with newly elected Lok Sabha members from the ruling alliance.
With Parliament often witnessing frequent disruptions in the past due to deep acrimony between the ruling coalition and opposition parties, Modi struck a conciliatory note.
Having a “bahumat (majority)” is necessary to form government but “sarvmat (consensus or unanimity)” is much needed for running the country, he said.
“I want to assure people of the country that you have given us the good fortune to run the government by handing us a majority, and it has then become our responsibility that we continuously strive to ensure unanimity in taking the country forward,” Modi said.
“For me the NDA stands for New India, Developed India, Aspirational India,” he said, lauding the leading architects of the alliance, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, George Fernandes, Bal Thackeray, Sharad Yadav and Parkash Singh Badal.
Modi congratulated the victorious NDA leaders and said he must salute the lakhs of ground workers who worked to ensure this victory.
“This is the most successful alliance in the history of our country. It has completed three successful terms and is now entering its fourth. The NDA is not a grouping of parties that have come together to get power, it is committed to the principle of ‘nation first’,” he added.
He noted that the BJP-led NDA is in power in seven of the 10 States where Scheduled Tribes are in large numbers and also in Goa and North Eastern states where Christians are in sizeable numbers.
Modi said that the “INDI alliance” parties have already started saying they came together only for the Lok Sabha polls. Such an approach shows their character and hunger for power, he said.
“Our 10 years were just a trailer. We will work much harder and faster for the development of our country. People know that we will deliver,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister said he had been missing parliamentary debates and hoped that the opposition MPs also contribute to nation-building when they come to Parliament.
Taking a dig at the Congress, he said the opposition party could not even touch the 100-seat mark, and that their total seats in the last three Lok Sabha polls were fewer than the BJP’s tally in this election alone.
“We are glad to note that for the first time one of our representatives has emerged victorious in Kerala. We have been having a brilliant performance in Arunachal Pradesh. In Sikkim also, we (NDA) have almost registered a ‘clean sweep’. In Andhra Pradesh, it is a historic victory. The way NDA’s vote share has increased in Tamil Nadu clearly shows what is in the offing,” Modi said.
“In the last 10 years, we worked to make the country touch new heights of success. A common thing that exists amongst all the leadership pillars of the NDA is good governance,” Modi said.
“Whenever given the chance to serve, each and every leader of the NDA has ensured good governance across Bharat. The NDA has become synonymous with good governance,” he said.
Meanwhile, key BJP allies — TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar — on Friday endorsed Narendra Modi as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance with a message to balance regional aspirations and national interests.
Speaking at the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting here, BJP allies JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, NCP chief Ajit Pawar, HAM(S) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi among others supported the proposal moved by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to elect Modi as the leader of the NDA.
The meeting in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan, the old Parliament House, saw a lot of bonhomie as well as lighter moments among the leaders with Shinde describing the alliance as a “Fevicol bond”, Kumar trying to touch the feet of Modi, who stopped him midway and the Prime Minister patting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on his shoulder.
LJP(Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, who repeatedly referred to Modi as ‘Sir’ while supporting the resolution, received a warm embrace from the Prime Minister. Jana Sena Party Pawan Kalyan received a special mention in Modi’s speech when he said that “Pawan was not wind but a storm”.
Paswan credited Modi for the NDA victory, while Kalyan asserted that India would not bow down before anyone as long as Modi was the Prime Minister.
At the outset, as soon as Modi entered the Central Hall for the NDA meeting, he bowed before a copy of the Constitution placed there, and lifted it to his forehead reverentially.
Another ally, RLD chief Jayant Singh, who was seated in the audience with other leaders, later posted on X: “NDA (New – Developed – Aspirational India) has chosen our Prime Minister for a historic third term, Shri Narendra Modi ji!”
NDA coalition partners Kumar and Naidu wholeheartedly praised Modi for his leadership and also reminded him not to ignore the development of states.
“Balancing regional aspirations and national interests must run parallelly while ensuring holistic development for all strata of society,” Naidu said.
Naidu said Modi’s rallies in Andhra Pradesh helped the TDP win 16 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
“Today, India is having the right leader at the right time, that is Narendra Modi. This is a very good opportunity for India. If you miss now, you will miss forever. That is why we are having a wonderful opportunity today,” Naidu said.
Kumar expressed confidence that Modi will develop India in a big way and also pay attention to Bihar.
“We are confident that Modi will develop India and we will wholeheartedly support him every passing day,” Kumar said.
“All the pending works of Bihar will be done. It is a very good thing that all of us have come together and we will all work together with you. … We will all work under your leadership,” he said.
The Bihar Chief Minister slammed the opposition and expressed confidence that they will be defeated in the next Lok Sabha elections.
“I have noticed that a few people have won (Lok Sabha elections) here and there by saying useless things. They haven’t done any work and never served the country. Next time when you win, they all will be defeated,” Kumar said.
Shinde said Shiv Sena and BJP were ideologically similar. “The Shiv Sena-BJP coalition forged under the leadership of Balasaheb Thackeray is a ‘fevicol bond’ which will not break,” he said. (PTI)
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