New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) unanimously elected Narendra Modi as its leader on Wednesday, following the coalition’s victory of 293 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. The alliance is set to stake its claim to form the government for a third consecutive term after a crucial meeting at Modi’s residence later today. Key figures, including Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Chandrababu Naidu, attended the NDA meeting along with top leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other allies.
In parallel, leaders of the INDIA bloc, such as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar, gathered at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence. The meeting is expected to focus on strategies moving forward. Ahead of the meeting, Pawar stated, “There has been no discussion within the INDIA bloc yet on reaching out to the TDP or JD(U) to shore up the numbers for government formation.” Notably, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray did not attend the meeting.