Modi appointed PM-elect, invited to form government

BJP leader Narendra Modi was on Saturday appointed prime minister-elect by President Ram Nath Kovind, who also asked him to form the new government.

After the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance unanimously elected him as their leader, Modi reached the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday night to stake claim to form the next government.

President Kovind asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to decide the council of ministers and the date of his swearing-in ceremony.

The president also appointed Modi to the office of Prime Minister of India, a communique issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

Kovind requested Modi to advise him about the names of others to be appointed members of the Union Council of Ministers; and indicate the date and time of the swearing-in ceremony to be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, it said.

Modi was formally intimated when he called on the president at the Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening in his capacity as the leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party, which has majority support in the House of the People following the general election to the 17th Lok Sabha, the communique said.

Modi later told reporters at the forecourts of Rashtrapati Bhavan that President Kovind has appointed him prime minister-elect and asked him to form the new government.

The outgoing Union council of ministers had tendered its resignation on Friday night and Kovind had asked Modi to continue as caretaker PM.

Earlier in the day, a delegation of the National Democratic Alliance led by BJP president Amit Shah and comprising Parkash Singh Badal, Rajnath Singh, Nitish Kumar, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sushma Swaraj, Uddhav Thakeray, Nitin Gadkari, K Palaniswami, Conrad Sangma and Neiphiu Rio, called on the president at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the communique said.

A letter stating that Narendra Modi has been elected leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party was handed over to the president, it said.

"Letters of support from NDA constituent parties were also handed over to the president," the communique said.

After the NDA returned to power with a massive majority, Modi becoming the prime minister again was a foregone conclusion.