Modi to meet President, stake claim to form government - Hindustan Times

Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi will be formally elected as its leader by the Bharatiya Janata Party's parliamentary board on Tuesday after which he will meet President Pranab Mukherjee to stake claim to form the new government.

Party veteran LK Advani will propose Modi's name as the leader of the BJP parliamentary board and senior leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley will second it.

The 63-year-old will meet the President in the company of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders after his election. The meeting will be held at the Central Hall of Parliament.

This will be followed by a meeting of NDA allies. A 15-member NDA delegation will also meet the President in the afternoon.

Modi is likely to be sworn in by the weekend.

According to reports, with the race for key posts in the Modi government intensifying BJP president Rajnath Singh may get the home portfolio while Arun Jaitley could be the new finance minister.

Reports also said that Murli Manohar Joshi could be chosen as the defence minister and party patriarch LK Advani could be asked to guide the party.

Amid a flurry of meetings, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar also paid a visit to Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday morning.

On Monday, hectic consultations were on in the BJP for the second consecutive day ahead of the government formation in New Delhi. A stream of leaders met Modi, Rajnath Singh and senior RSS functionaries.

Visitors to Modi, who is camping at Gujarat Bhavan, included senior leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Amit Shah and Kalyan Singh. YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy also met Modi.

Swaraj, who is tipped to be one of the four top ministers of the next government, reportedly conveyed her readiness to work in a "respectable position" in his team.

The PM-designate, however, has not revealed anything about who his cabinet colleagues will be.

"He is hearing everyone out and will make his mind known at the right time," a BJP leader considered close to Modi said.

(With ANI inputs)