New Delhi, may 24 (uni) President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday hosted a banquet in honour of the outgoing Union Council of Ministers, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Present at the dinner hosted by the President were Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Speaker of the outgoing Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan and ministers of the cabinet including Nirmala Sitharaman, Prakash Javadekar, Smriti Irani, Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti, Piyush Goyal, Nitin Gadkari and Maneka Gandhi.
The dinner by the President for the cabinet came on a day when 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.
Taking to Twitter about his meeting with the President, PM Modi said, 'the sun sets on this term but the brightness our work has brought will continue to illuminate the lives of millions. A new dawn awaits, a new term beckons. We are even more determined to fulfil the dreams of 130 crore Indians and create the New India all of us dreamt of.'
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.
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