By Pankaj Yadav
NEW DELHI, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The stage is all set for Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi to take oath of office and begin his second consecutive term as the head of Indian government, even as President Ram Nath Kovind has already formally appointed him to the office of prime minister.
An official press communique issued by President's office late on Saturday said "Exercising powers vested in him under Article 75 (1) of the Constitution of India, President Ram Nath Kovind today appointed Narendra Modi to the office of Prime Minister of India. The president requested Modi to advise him about the names of others to be appointed members of the Union Council of Ministers, and indicate the date and time of the swearing-in-ceremony to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan (President House)."
Now, Modi is expected to soon fix the date of his swearing-in ceremony. In 2014, he along with his council of ministers, took the oath of office on May 26.
In the just-concluded 17th General Elections, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had registered a spectacular victory by winning in more than 300 constituencies out of the total more than 500 that went to polls.
The Election Commission of India's official website showed the final results on May 24.
A day after the results were announced, a series of events took place on Saturday evening leading to installation of Modi as the prime minister for his second consecutive term. It began with all the 353 newly-elected National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lawmakers electing Modi as their leader. To this effect a resolution was unanimously passed by the NDA lawmakers at the Central Hall of the Indian parliament.
Addressing the NDA lawmakers on the occasion, Modi said that regional aspirations and national ambitions will define India's development in the coming years. He said that the world's expectations from India had increased over the years, and these global aspirations could be fulfilled only by India's overall development in the coming years.
Modi stated that the just-concluded General Elections had sent the maximum number of women lawmakers to the lower house of parliament "Lok Sabha," and also witnessed the maximum ever number of voters exercising their right to vote ever since Independence.
He also promised to work for the poor and the minorities in the country, and resolved to remove poverty from the country by providing them basic facilities like housing, water, electricity, health, education and etc. "The mandate given by the countrymen in the 2019 Elections shows pro-incumbency of our first government (2014-2019)," he added.
Later, the top leaders of the NDA constituents went to meet president to hand over the letters of support for Modi's candidature as prime minister.
A tweet from the official twitter handle of the President of India stated "A letter stating that Narendra Modi had been elected leader of the BJP parliamentary party was handed over to the President. Letters of support from NDA constituent parties were also handed over to the President."
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