Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar on Friday further asserted his support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and endorsed his name as PM for the third term.
Nitish, who has been called out for political U-turns several times, especially after his pivot from the INDIA bloc earlier in January this year, also took a jibe at the Opposition group at the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's meeting at the Parliament's Central Hall on Friday.
The Bihar Chief Minister said that him and his party will stand with PM Modi always, in all his decisions.
"All the pending works of Bihar will be done. It is a very good thing that all of us have come together and we will all work together with you (PM Modi)," Nitish said at the NDA meet.
The JD(U) chief expressed his wish that PM Modi had sworn in today itself, noting that now he will be swearing in as the Prime Minister on Sunday.
"Whenever you take the oath, we will be with you...We will all work together under your leadership," Nitish, who emerged as one of the Kingmakers, said.
Hitting out at the INDIA bloc in a subtle reference, he said "some people who have won here and there, next time they all will lose, we have full faith in it" (Agli baar jab aap aaiye toh kuch log jo idhar udhar jeet gaya hai, agli baar sab haarega. Humko poora bharosa hai).
He also said that the Congress-led Opposition grouping has not done anything for the country. Amid the buzz over the INDIA bloc getting in touch with Nitish, he said, "I will be with the PM at all times."
The JD(U) leader emerged as one of the two kingmakers after the results for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were announced. Nitish's 12 MPs and Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP's 16 MPs will be significant for the BJP to form the government at the Centre, after falling short of the 272 majority mark by itself. The Bharatiya Janata Party secured 240 seats.
KINGMAKER CHANDRABABU NAIDU AT NDA MEETING
The other kingmaker, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu also maintained his support to the Prime Minister and said that Narendra Modi is the right leader at the right time for the nation.
"I have been in the politics for the last four decades I have seen so many leaders. I can give the entire credit to Narendra Modi ji for making India proud globally," Naidu, who is set to take oath as Andhra Pradesh chief minister on June 12, said.
Highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's works for the country, Naidu said that under Modi's leadership, India became the fifth-largest economy in the world.
He added that they are all confident of the nation becoming the third-largest economy in the world under PM Modi's tenure this time.
"At the same time, he is planning Viksit Bharat Vision 2047. Under his leadership, if you go anywhere in the world, the highest per capita income is earned by Indians. I am confident. Under his leadership, Indians are going to become global leaders in the near future," the TDP chief said.
He also hailed PM Modi's dedication towards the election campaigns and said, " I have seen during the election campaign, for 3 months PM Modi never took any rest. Day and night he has campaigned. He started and ended with the same spirit."
Notably, Naidu also proposed Narendra Modi's name as the Prime Minister of India.
BJP's alliance partner in Andhra Pradesh, Janasena Party's chief Pawan Kalyan said that Modi "truly inspired" the nation. He said, "As long as you are the Prime Minister of this country, our country will never bow down to anyone."
At the NDA meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected as the leader of the NDA Parliamentary Party.
He said that this was the most successful alliance in the history of the nation, adding that their "aim will be to reach unanimity in all our decisions".
"NDA govt in next 10 years will focus on good governance, development, minimum interference in lives of common citizens," the PM said.
"We were neither defeated nor are we defeated. But our behaviour after the 4th shows our identity that we know how to digest victory. Our values are such that we do not develop frenzy in the lap of victory and neither do we have the values of mocking the defeated. We protect the victorious and we do not have the perversion of mocking the defeated. These are our values," PM Modi said in a proud and stern tone.
