New Delhi, May 24 (UNI) A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance swept to a landslide victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, paving the way for Mr Narendra Modi to become the Prime Minister for a second consecutive term, the process of formation of the new government gathered steam with the Union Cabinet recommending to President Ram Nath Kovind dissolution of the 16th House of the People.
Official sources said Mr Modi on Friday presided over a meeting of the Cabinet and Council of Ministers in his South Block Office where the Cabinet adopted resolution recommending the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.
The Cabinet also discussed the dates for the swearing-in ceremony and other formalities required for the formation of the new government after general elections.
Mr Modi later called on President Kovind and tendered the resignation of his government following the mandatory norms and paving the way for the formation for the new Union Council of Ministers.
Accepting the resignation of the NDA government, the President requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to continue till the new dispensation is sworn in.
'The President has accepted and requested Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new government assumes office,' a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said here.
BJP's massive mandate
The Cabinet meeting was held a day after the Modi government received a massive mandate in the 2019 general elections.
Among others, Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Prakash Javadekar, Smriti Irani, Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti, Piyush Goyal, Nitin Gadkari and Maneka Gandhi attended the deliberations.
Most ministers looked in a jovial mood and waved towards the awaiting journalists, television crew and lensmen.
The ruling BJP is all set to begin its second five-year innings under the leadership of Mr Modi with the party's achieving a landslide victory in elections to the 17th Lok Sabha in the 543-member Lower House.
Sources said the Council of Ministers is likely to have a dinner meeting later.
The Cabinet is learnt to have also discussed Prime Minister's visits to various parts of the country.
Earlier in the day, Mr Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah called on the party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani and party stalwart Dr Murli Manohar Joshi who did not contest elections this year.
Addressing a victory rally organised at the BJP headquarters after the massive win of the party, Mr Modi, describing it as the ‘victory of the people’, termed the people's mandate in 2019 elections one of the biggest events of the world in the millennium and said the world will be forced to register and recognise the power of India's democracy.
Opposition
Meanwhile, voices grow for resignation of Rahul Gandhi as Indian National Congress president after the dismal show by the party in the Lok Sabha elections.
A meeting of the Congress working committee, the highest decision making body of the 150-year-old party, will be held on Saturday to analyse the reasons for its crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
Sources said that at the meeting of the CWC, to be held on Saturday morning and to be attended by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior leaders of the party, Rahul Gandhi is likely to offer his resignation to the CWC as party president to own responsibility for the poor show in the elections.
In the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party won just 52 seats in the 542-member House while the BJP secured a landslide victory by securing a 300+ tally.
RaGa also lost from the traditional Gandhi family stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh as Smriti Irani of the BJP wrested the seat that he has represented since 2004.
The formal entry of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh (UP) East also failed to boost the chances of the party in Uttar Pradesh .
The elections saw the party suffer a near-wipe out in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan that it had won just five months ago.
While Congress scored nil in Rajasthan, it retained Chhindwara in MP and two seats in Chhattisgarh.
In as many as 12 states, the principal opposition party failed to open its account.
Sources said that at the meeting, many of the State in-charges are also likely to offer their resignations over the party’s poor performance in their regions.
This is the second time in a row that the Congress party had suffered a bruising defeat at the hands of the BJP.
Addressing a news conference on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi had said that he conceded responsibility for the party’s poor show in the Lok Sabha polls.
He had said that a meeting of the CWC would assess the reasons for the defeat of the Congress.
Asked on Thursday whether he would resign as the party chief, Mr. Gandhi said, “That you can leave between me and the Working Committee.”
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