High hopes for Modi after landslide victory in India
INDIA’S prime minister-to-be Narendra Modi spent yesterday huddled in discussions with close aides and advisers, finalising the names of people to join his cabinet and grappling with the crucial decision of who will be his finance minister.
Two days after he won a thumping victory in the general election, there was little clarity about who Modi would include in his team, even in key portfolios like defence, interior and external affairs.
The alliance led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 336 of the 543 seats in India’s lower house of parliament, making it the first time in a quarter of a century that the country will not be led by a coalition government.
Modi and his inner circle have played their cards close to their chests and are unlikely to reveal who will take senior cabinet posts until a meeting of the BJP parliamentary leadership tomorrow, one senior party leader said.