Modi: Pro-incumbency wave, we also stand for those we need to win over

NEW DELHI:President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday appointed Narendra Modi to the office of Prime Minister and requested him to advise him about the names of others to be appointed as ministers and also indicate the date of the swearing-in ceremony.

Narendra Modi bows before the Constitution of India at NDA meet in Parliament. Mukesh Aggarwal

New Delhi, May 25

President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday appointed Narendra Modi to the office of Prime Minister and requested him to advise him about the names of others to be appointed as ministers and also indicate the date of the swearing-in ceremony.

Earlier, a delegation of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by BJP president Amit Shah, called on the President and informed him that Modi has been elected the leader of the alliance. The swearing-in is likely to take place on May 30.

In his address at the NDA parliamentary party meeting, Modi said his government would now begin “a new journey to build a new India with new energy” and asked MPs to work without any discrimination, including on the basis of faith and castes.

In his 75-minute address, Modi stressed the need to win over the trust of minorities, saying they were made to live in “fear” and “exploited” during elections for vote-bank politics, apparently a dig at the Opposition parties.

He invoked the spirit of the 1857 struggle for freedom, saying all communities had then joined hands for Independence and a similar movement should be started for good governance now. — TNS