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Indian PM Modi resigns ahead of new cabinet formation

According to the established procedure, the Indian president must then appoint the candidate of the winning party to form a new government
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi AP Photo/Manish Swarup
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
© AP Photo/Manish Swarup

NEW DELHI, June 5. /TASS/. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resigned from his post, a new cabinet of ministers will be formed in the country following the general election, the press service of the Indian government reported on its website.

"The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, met the President [Droupadi Murmu] today and tendered his resignation along with the Council of Ministers. The President has accepted the resignation and requested Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new Government assumes office," the statement said.

According to the established procedure, the Indian president must then appoint the candidate of the winning party to form a new government. Narendra Modi is expected to be that candidate, making him the country's prime minister for the third time in a row.

Sources in India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) told reporters earlier that Modi plans to be sworn in as prime minister on June 8.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) headed by Narendra Modi’s BJP won 292 out of 543 seats in the lower house of the parliament (Lok Sabha) as a result of the election. This allows the NDA to form the government, as the alliance has gained over a half of the vote. However, despite the BJP, which is the major force of the party, leads in the number of mandates acquired (240), this is not enough to form a unilateral cabinet. In 2019, the BJP won 303 seats, while the alliance as a whole took 352. Now, Modi will have to build his policy in accordance with allies in the NDA. The oppositional National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.), umbrellaing 28 parties, has also succeeded in the election — it received 234 seats. The coalition’s leading Indian National Congress party, which is the oldest one, acquired 99 mandates, while it had got only 53 seats in the previous election. The opposition’s leaders say that they still hope for getting the right to form the government.

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