India to scale 'new heights' of progress under PM Modi, say NDA partners

New Delhi: After President Droupadi Murmu appointed NDA Parliamentary Party leader Narendra Modi as prime minister-designate, leaders of the BJP and those of its coalition partners congratulated him and said the country will scale "new heights" of progress under his leadership in the next five years.

Modi will take oath as prime minister for a third consecutive term on Sunday after Murmu invited him to form the government.

Murmu appointed Modi as prime minister-designate on Friday after BJP chief JP Nadda handed her a letter on Modi's election as leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders submitted their letters of support.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu asserted that his party will remain part of the NDA and provide its complete support to the coalition government under Modi for nation building, fulfilling regional aspirations and formulation of public welfare schemes.

"We conveyed the same during the NDA meeting also that we will stay with the NDA and there will be no confusion on it in the next five years as the people of Andhra Pradesh have given their mandate to the NDA. The people have given responsibility to us. We will fulfil the duty that people have assigned to us with their mandate and play a significant role," Naidu told PTI.

Asked if his party had demanded the Lok Sabha speaker's position for being part of the NDA, the TDP leader said, "We have not made any specific demand. But we definitely want due respect in the NDA." He claimed that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government destroyed Andhra Pradesh during its rule and the TDP wants the NDA government at the Centre to provide all possible help for the progress of the state and its people.

The BJP's Anurag Thakur, reelected from Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, congratulated Modi on being elected as NDA Parliamentary Party leader and said the country will scale new heights of progress under his leadership.

"The people of the country want a stable government. The people of the country want to see a powerful and honest leader at the helm," he told PTI.

Senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Odisha's Sambalpur, said the NDA government will do "much better" this time.

"We will work much harder in national interest," he told PTI.

Congratulating Modi, LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan said people of the country are waiting for Modi to take oath and fulfil his promises.

"The entire country has given a mandate to Prime Minister Modi and, honouring this mandate, all NDA constituents have endorsed his leadership to fulfil his resolve of making India a developed country," he told PTI.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Singh said the same energy and zeal with which Modi worked in the last 10 years will take the country forward on the path of progress.