BJP leaders meet ahead of government formation

Senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, held deliberations on Thursday as the ruling National Democratic Alliance set in motion its government formation efforts under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

They met at BJP president J P Nadda's residence in what is seen as part of the party's exercise to reach out to allies over issues like their share of ministerial berths and pick the probables from within their party for the coalition government.

The NDA MPs are expected to meet on Friday to formally elect Modi as their leader, with the new government likely to be sworn in over the weekend.

Preparing to take oath for a third straight term as the head of a coalition government, Modi had on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the ruling alliance's members who unanimously elected him as its leader.

Leaders of the BJP's ally Janata Dal (United) also held deliberations with party president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Though the regional party has not said anything officially on the issue, sources said it is looking to get some key ministerial berths to reclaim some of the lost ground in Bihar where it has performed well after being seen to have fallen way behind the BJP and the RJD over the last few years in political strength.

With 12 MPs, the JD(U) is the second biggest BJP ally after the Telugu Desam Party's 16.

The new BJP-led government will depend critically on these two parties for survival.