Narendra Modi to meet President Kovind in evening to stake claim to form new government

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet President Ram Nath Kovind Saturday evening to stake a claim to form the new government, sources said.

The prime minister is likely to call on the President at around 8 pm and before that, leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would meet Kovind at around 7 pm, the sources said.

The NDA returned to power with a massive majority in the Lok Sabha elections with the BJP alone bagging 303 of total 542 seats contested.

Elections were held in 542 of the 543 seats. The election in Vellore Lok Sabha seat was cancelled by the EC citing abuse of money power.

Asked whether foreign dignitaries would be invited to the swearing-in ceremony, the sources said, "As of now there is no such information. We will share the details once a decision is taken".

Modi had invited the Heads of the SAARC nations to his swearing-in ceremony as Prime Minister in 2014.

Meanwhile, the full Election Commission on Saturday called on President Kovind and handed over the list of 542 newly-elected members of the Lok Sabha that will enable him to initiate the formal process of new government formation.