NDA has returned to power. What next?

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet will meet Friday evening to recommend the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.

The meet is being held a day after the Lok Sabha election results showed the NDA retained power by improving its previous performance.

After the Cabinet's recommendation is passed in the form of a resolution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar are likely to meet President Ram Nath Kovind to hand over the resolution as well as the resignation of the Council of Ministers, official sources said Friday.


"The PM would then be asked to continue till the new government is formed. Date for the swearing-in ceremony will be fixed," explained former Lok Sabha secretary-general and constitutional expert P D T Acharya.

He said the president will dissolve the present Lok Sabha, the term of which is ending on June 3. "If it is not dissolved, it will get automatically dissolved on June 3 ... It is a mere formality," he said.

The 17th Lok Sabha has to be constituted before June 3 and the process to form a new House will be initiated when the three election commissioners meet the president in the next few days to hand over the list of newly elected members.

All the newly elected BJP MPs may meet Saturday to elect Modi as their leader, following which he will meet the president to stake claim to form the new government, party sources said.