The newly-elected MPs of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will meet at Parliament's Central Hall on Friday where they will elect Narendra Modi as their leader.
After the crucial meeting, Modi, along with senior members of the alliance, including TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar, will meet President Droupadi Murmu to present her the list of parliamentarians supporting him. This will pave the way for Modi to become the Prime Minister again. He is likely to swear in on Sunday, according to reports.
The NDA has 293 MPs, above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha. While BJP won 240 seats and along with its allies, Chandrababu Naidu's TDP and Nitish Kumar's JDU, having won 16 and 12 seats respectively in their respective states, have extended support to the NDA.
The TDP MLAs have also arrived in Delhi along with Naidu for the meeting. The party's Ongole MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy said the newly-elected TDP MPs will attend the NDA meeting. "We are going to attend the meeting in Delhi. The TDP Parliamentary Party meeting is also scheduled for Friday," Reddy said, adding that they were clueless about TDP making any demands on Cabinet formation.
Reddy was among the MPs who attended a meeting called by Naidu at his Andhra Pradesh residence in Undavalli on Thursday morning. Many MPs who were not in the city had joined virtually.
Meanwhile, senior BJP senior leaders, including Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, were in a huddle on Thursday as talks regarding the government formation picked up pace. This comes amid reports regarding the demands of the JD(U) and TDP seeking respectable representation in the Union Council of Ministers.
"The matter of cabinet berths will be decided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and our party chief Nitish Kumar ji. But, it should be respectable," Shrawan Kumar, JD(U) leader and Bihar Rural Development Minister, told PTI in Patna. There should be three ministerial berths for his party, another JD(U) leader demanded.
Naidu is keen for the Centre to provide Andhra Pradesh with financial assistance in building its capital in Amravati. He also wants the new government to take steps to fulfil the Centre's commitment to the state when Telangana was carved out of it, sources said.
Another BJP ally and LJP(R) leader Chirag Paswan, who is seen as a contender for a Cabinet berth, said his party's support to Modi is unconditional, stressing that it was under his leadership that the NDA won a majority.
