JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu will attend the meeting.
From left: Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu at a public meeting at Boppudi in the Chilakaluripeta Assembly Constituency of in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, 17 March, 2024. (Supplied)
Senior leaders of the BJP-led NDA are likely to meet on Wednesday, 5 June, to take stock of the Lok Sabha poll results and deliberate on the details of government formation.
JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, who is set to become the next Andhra Pradesh chief minister, will attend the meeting where top leaders of the BJP and its other allies are also expected to be present, sources said.
They are expected to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is set for a record-equalling third term at the helm, and discuss with him the details of the new government, which is likely to be different in composition and character with a bigger share for the BJP’s allies.
While the NDA is comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the BJP has fallen short of the magic number for the first time since 2014 and is critically dependent on its allies for government formation.
TDP, JD(U), Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas) have won 16, 12, seven and five seats respectively and will play a crucial role in government formation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the NDA will form the next government.
Speaking to reporters on arrival in New Delhi, Shinde said Modi had won a majority in the Lok Sabha elections and the NDA will form the next government under his leadership.
Shinde-led Shiv Sena won seven seats in the Lok Sabha and is seen as a crucial ally of the BJP at the Centre.
“I have not come here to demand anything. I have come here to support Modi ji,” the Maharashtra chief minister said to questions on portfolios the Shiv Sena would seek in the new Union Cabinet.
He said Modi had a plan for the development of the country, which was implemented successfully over the past 10 years, while the opposition alliance had a single-point agenda to remove Modi.
“The opposition had a single point agenda .. Modi Hatao (remove Modi). Those people (Opposition) talked of banishing Modi, but the people of the country have stopped them from coming to power. People have shown them their place,” Shinde said.
On former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s remark that the opposition INDIA bloc should explore possibilities of forming the government, Shinde said the Opposition’s was a classic case of ‘gire toh bhi tang upar’ (claiming to have won, despite a fall).
“Those who do not have the numbers are dreaming of forming the government. It is like Mungerilal ke Haseen Sapne,” he said.
AJSU party chief Sudesh Mahto on Wednesday said that the NDA, which is comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha, has got the mandate to form the government at the Centre.
Mahto left for Delhi to take part in the NDA meeting scheduled in the national capital later in the day.
He got a call from Union Home Minister Amit Shah to attend the meeting, a party spokesperson said.
The AJSU Party, an NDA partner in Jharkhand, bagged the Giridih constituency it was allotted in the seat-sharing agreement with the BJP.
Its nominee Chandraprakash Choudhary defeated JMM’s Mathura Mahato by 80,880 votes.
“The NDA has got a clear mandate to form the government at the Centre… AJSU Party has been a BJP ally for long,” Mahto said.
He said NDA will deliberate on all aspects of the poll results, including its performance, and dip in the number of seats in some states, besides regional politics.
Mahto said both Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu are known for leadership that fuels development and are old allies of the BJP.
On the BJP losing all the five tribal-dominated seats in Jharkhand, Mahto said the issue needs serious deliberation, alleging, “Development has bypassed the tribal community under a planned strategy so that it could be used by certain parties for political gains.”
“These parties do appeasement politics and the community (tribals) has been deprived of development and leadership etc… there have been challenges… we need to address these and will certainly discuss regional politics as well,” he said.
There are several issues of the state on which decisions are needed in view of the upcoming assembly elections to the 81-member House scheduled later this year, he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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