Modi thanks party and people
Parliamentary party meet Tuesday NDA allies to meet same day
The BJP’s newly- elected parliamentarians will meet on Tuesday to nominate Narendra Modi as their leader before he takes charge as India’s next Prime Minister. Gearing up to take charge of the nation, Mr Modi appeared softer, choosing his words carefully on Saturday when he reached the national capital a day after the Lok Sabha election results. Mr Modi thanked BJP workers and the people of the country for the spectacular victory. His speech was brief and devoid of rhetoric. Trying to show a united face, the entire BJP top brass shared the dais. BJP chief Rajnath Singh said “no date for the swearing- in ceremony has yet been fixed”. Despite party veteran L. K. Advani’s reservations on giving Mr Modi any credit for the historic win, the BJP PM candidate touched Mr Advani’s feet as the former offered him a laddoo and his blessings when the party’s parliamentary board met. The board adopted a resolution applauding the stewardship of its PM candidate for his “tireless efforts” and “inspirational” leadership.
The resolution said Mr Modi “gave direction to the campaign with a vision” and also thanked BJP workers, along with “social and cultural organisations”, a reference to the RSS and affiliate groups. The parliamentary board also decided to convene a meeting of the parliamentary party. The meeting was chaired by Mr Rajnath Singh and attended by Mr Modi, Mr Advani, M. M. Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and other top leaders.
Mr Modi was accorded a rousing welcome by thousands of enthusiastic BJP workers and supporters to whom he gave credit for the historic achievement and thanked them for rekindling “new hope” through their hard work.
In a brief address to the media, Mr Rajnath Singh said the NDA allies will also be invited for a meeting on the same day when the leader of the coalition will also be chosen.
He dismissed media
Continued from Page 1 speculation about Mr Modi’s swearing- in, saying no date had been fixed and that it would be decided after the parliamentary party meeting. Addressing the media briefly, Mr Modi said he salutes the people of the country and thanked voters for electing the BJP.
Mr Singh also announced that senior leader Thawarchand Gehlot will be the observer for the May 20 parliamentary party meeting where Mr Modi will be formally elected.
He also announced that general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy will be observer for Arunachal Pradesh, Prakash Javadekar for Orissa, Ravi Shankar Prasad for Andhra Pradesh and J. P. Nadda for Telangana, where newlyelected BJP MLAs will elect their leaders in the respective state Assemblies.