NDA presents united face, selects Narendra Modi as its leader

New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unanimously selected Narendra Modi as the grouping's leader, paving the way for his return as Prime Minister of India for a historic third term in a row.

"We are all proud that the NDA fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls unitedly under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and won," the coalition said in a resolution passed at the meeting on Wednesday, a day after votes were counted. "We all NDA leaders unanimously elect Narendra Modi as our leader."

NDA leaders including TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and JDU leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar met at the Prime Minister's official residence here a day after the NDA won a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha election. Naidu, who's set to become Andhra Pradesh chief minister, and Kumar are the BJP's most important allies as their parties won a crucial number of seats that ensure the NDA's majority in the Lok Sabha.


At the meeting, the parties congratulated Modi for leading the NDA back to power for the third time in a row, with Kumar saying that there "should not be any delay" in government formation.

NDA leaders also congratulated Naidu for storming back to power in Andhra Pradesh. The TDP chief hailed Modi's vision that aims to make India the third-largest economy in the world.

The grouping's MPs will meet on June 7 to formally elect Modi as their leader and the NDA leaders will then go to the President to submit their letters of support. The new government may be sworn in over the weekend.

Swearing-in Likely Over The Weekend
The grouping’s MPs will meet on June 7 to formally elect Modi as their leader and the NDA leaders will then go to the President to submit their letters of support. The new government may be sworn in over the weekend.

The allies also said that the Prime Minister has a clear vision for Viksit Bharat (Developed India) and that they would be partners in this endeavour. They lauded Modi’s poverty eradication efforts and pledged to stay the course on this.

Sources said appointing a convener and developing a common minimum programme for NDA cannot be ruled out.

Modi told the meeting that the mandate for a third consecutive term was a historic one, something that was last delivered 60 years back.

The resolution emphasised the NDA’s commitment to serving the poor, women, youth, farmers and deprived sections of society. The NDA will continue working to lift people's living standards for the country's all-round development while conserving its heritage. The resolution also said that people have seen the country being developed in every sector in the last 10 years due to the pro-people policies of the NDA governments under Modi.