Narendra Modi on Wednesday was elected as the leader of the NDA after the meeting that was attended by BJP's key allies, a day after Lok Sabha Election Results 2024 was announced. It means, all is well in the NDA camp and Narendra Modi is likely to take oath as the Prime Minister of India for the third consecutive time. While the NDA meeting was a significant one keeping Lok Sabha Election Results in mind, all eyes were on 'Sushashan Bau' Nitish Kumar as there were murmurs that the INDIA bloc had approached him with a Deputy PM post. However, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar gave his letter of support to PM Modi shutting down all speculations and attempts by the INDIA bloc. However, there are reports that Nitish Kumar-led JDU has allegedly asked for three ministries and also advised to scrap or modify the Agniveer Scheme launched in Modi's previous regime.
As per reports, JDU has its eyes on three ministries in the Modi 3.0 cabinet. Nitish Kumar-led JDU is eyeing for Railways, Rural Development, and Jal Shakti ministries. Other choices could be Transport and Agriculture. However, seeing Nitin Gadkari's exceptional work as Road and Transport Minister, it is highly unlikely that the BJP will give to the JDU.
On the other hand, BJP is most likely to hold key portfolios to itself. The key ministries include- Home, Finance, Defence, IT, Law, and Ministry of External Affairs. The BJP is adamant about keeping these portfolios to itself and not to its allies. It means Agriculture, Education, and other ministries can be given to BJP's allies in the NDA. Also, the allies can be accommodated with MoS in the ministries that will be kept with the BJP.
For the unversed, TDP won 28 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh (and a simultaneous Assembly election to return as Chief Minister) and Nitish Kumar's JDU won 16 seats in Bihar.
During the NDA meeting, it was reported that Nitish Kumar's JDU has backed 'one nation, one poll' and UCC - agendas that the BJP has been pushing for and wants to implement for years. The JDU, however, wants a review of the Agniveer scheme, which it thinks impacted the elections.
For the unversed, the Agnipath Scheme, which was rolled out in June 2022, youth are recruited for four years after which, 25% of them will be retained and the rest will be released - a clause that has upset army aspirants.