May 20, 2014 : Narendra Modi arrives for the BJP parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi.
- AP Photo/Manish Swarup
( May 20, 2014, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Narendra Modi, who steered BJP and the NDA to a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections, was today appointed Prime Minister, ushering in a new era of a non-Congress government with an absolute majority on its own in 30 years.
"I came to call on the President. The President has given me a formal letter (of appointment as the PM) and has invited me for oath-taking ceremony on May 26 at 6 pm as we had earlier decided," Modi told the media emerging from the meeting with the President Pranab Mukherjee.
Earlier, the date for the ceremony was disclosed by BJP President Rajnath Singh after meeting President Pranab Mukherjee along with NDA leaders here to present the letters of support.
"Today we had a meeting of the BJP Parliamentary party and we have adopted a unanimous resolution to elect Narendra Modi as our leader. All the NDA allies were also present. We have requested the President to invite Narendra Modi for the swearing-in as the Prime Minister," told reporters at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
He said BJP has support letters of 10 allies of the NDA which includes 335 MPs. One ally -- Swabimani Paksh of Maharashtra -- did not have the support letter ready and it would be submitted soon.
Singh said 3,000 people are proposed to be invited for the swearing-in ceremony for which time will announced soon.
A Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said as Modi has been elected leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party and BJP has majority support in the House of the People, the President appointed him the Prime Minister of India and requested him to advise the names of members of the council of ministers.
"The President will administer the oath of office and secrecy on May 26 at 6 PM at Rashtrapati Bhawan," President's spokesman Venu Rajamony said.
In his brief interaction with the media outside Rashtrapati Bhawan, Modi displayed the President's letter appointing him to the top post.
Earlier the President greeted Modi on his landslide victory.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome," Mukherjee said, receiving a bouquet from Modi.
Offering a bunch of flowers, he congratulated him on his "grand victory".
