Online Desk : Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and tendered his resignation along with his council of ministers on Wednesday, ahead of the oath-taking ceremony of the new cabinet for a third time. He also recommended the dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi may take oath on Saturday evening (June 8). The President accepted the resignation and requested PM Narendra Modi and the council of ministers to continue till the new government assumes office. This came after Wednesday’s cabinet meeting held in New Delhi. The meeting chaired by Modi, recommended the dissolution of the cabinet whose term ends on June 16.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal-United (JDU), the potential “kingmakers” have given the green signal, the formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and the swearing-in ceremony of Modi. The TDP and JDU are expected to submit formal letters of support to the BJP during the alliance’s meeting later on Wednesday.

The meeting of the newly elected MPs of the NDA led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be held on June 7 in the national capital, news agency ANI reported. Discussions will be held on the government formation by the NDA, it reported. The Election Commission of India has declared results for 542 of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, with the BJP winning 240 seats and the Congress 99. The BJP victory tally was much lower than its 2019 tally of 303 and the 282 seats it had won in 2014. The Congress won 99 seats compared to 52 that it had won in 2019 and 44 seats in 2014. The INDIA bloc crossed the 230 mark, posing stiff competition and defying all predictions from exit polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured a third term, but the BJP will need to rely on the support of other parties in his coalition – Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu. Meanwhile, the opposition INDIA bloc met on June 5 with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge calling alliance leaders for the meet at his house. Having witnessed a favourable outcome in the Lok Sabha elections, the leaders of the INDIA bloc will strategize their next move.