Modi to Take Oath on Saturday; TD, JD-U Seek Plum Posts

New Delhi: It's official. Narendra Modi has been unanimously chosen as the leader of the NDA and is all set to form the government for the third consecutive time. The swearing-in ceremony is expected to be held on Saturday. At the NDA meet on Wednesday, the TDP and the JD(U) categorically reaffirmed that they stand firm with the NDA.After the alliance meeting, Mr Modi posted on a social media platform, "Met our valued NDA partners. Ours is an alliance that will further national progress and fulfil regional aspirations. We will serve the 140-crore people of India and work towards building a Viksit Bharat.

"On June 7, the NDA MPs will meet President Droupadi Murmu and stake their claim to form the government. Speculation is rife that both the TDP and the JD(U) are reportedly bargaining hard for plum ministries in the new government. While the allies and the BJP are tight-lipped about Cabinet berths and portfolios, sources revealed that the TDP is bargaining for the Speaker’s post, three Cabinet berths and two ministers of state.The JD(U) has also thrown its hat in the ring and was reportedly eyeing for three Cabinet berths and special category status (SCS) for Bihar.

The Shinde Sena and the LJP are reportedly asking for two Cabinet berths each. However, decisions on portfolios will only be taken by the BJP top brass and the top leadership of alliance partners.The BJP-led NDA pushed through the majority mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha by winning 293 seats. The BJP won 240 seats on its own, 32 seats less than a simple majority. The TDP won 16 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh and the JD(U) won 12 of the 40 seats in Bihar.

After the meeting, Mr Naidu, who is yet again back as the kingmaker, told the media, “We contested the election together. We are with NDA.”"Honouring the mandate given by the people of our country, all the NDA partners unanimously endorsed Mr Modi as our coalition leader at a meeting held in Delhi today. Under his able leadership, we shall all strive to ensure that our country continues to prosper and emerge as a global leader," posted Mr Naidu after the meeting. It is learnt that during the meeting, Mr Kumar told the Prime Minister, “Jaldi kijiye (act fast)”. He was reportedly asking Mr Modi to form the government at the earliest.

The resolution adopted in the NDA meeting stated that the “government will continue working for all-round development for the country” and the NDA “remained committed to working for the country’s women, poor, youth and farmers under Mr Modi’s leadership.”The resolution further maintained that “after a very long gap, almost six decades, the people of India have chosen a strong leadership with full majority for the third consecutive time…”Other alliance partners, including Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, LJP(R) leader Chirag Paswan, NCP leader Praful Patel, Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel, RLD's Jayant Chaudhary, AGP's Atul Bora, HAM's Jitan Ram Manjhi, Jan Sena's Pawan Kalyan and AJSU's Sudesh Mahto, were among those who attended the meeting.Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh also attended the meeting.