In 5-star dinner meet, 39 NDA allies pledge support to PM Modi; Bengal violence, EVM issue discussed

BJP chief Amit Shah Tuesday hosted a dinner for leaders of NDA allies that was attended by top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray among others.

The dinner was followed by a meeting in which nearly two dozen allies facilitated Prime Minister Modi. All NDA partners came one after another and felicitated him with a shawl.

Top leaders of the NDA were sitting on the dais with Modi, on whose one side was Shah and on other its was SAD's Parkash Singh Badal, the senior most leader of the alliance. Besides them Nitish, Thackeray, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari were also there.

After the meeting, PM Modi tweeted: "With the NDA family. Our alliance represents India's diversity and our agenda is India's progress. We are best suited to address regional aspirations and enhance national progress."

At the BJP-led ruling alliance meeting, which was attended by 36 parties, a resolution was passed, terming the 2019 general election decisive for the country and pledging to make India "strong, developed, prosperous and inclusive" by 2022 when India completes 75 years of its independence, party leader and Union minister Rajnath Singh told reporters.

At the NDA meet, PM expressed concern over 'needless controversy' created by Opposition over EVM and Election Commission.

Also, a resolution was passed in the meeting which termed the 2019 general election decisive and pledged to make strong, developed and inclusive India by 2022.

The resolution also expressed confidence that the NDA will come back to power under Modi and said its government planned a capital investment of Rs 100 lakh crore in infrastructure while Rs 25 lakh crore will be devoted to farm and rural sectors.

It praised the outgoing government's development and welfare initiatives.

Singh said its work on the security and diplomatic fronts have ensured that India is no longer seen as a "soft state" by the world.

"We resolved that once again under the leadership of PM Modi, by 2022, when India marks 75 years of freedom, it is our endeavour to fulfil the dreams of our great freedom fighters and give shape to the strong, prosperous, developed and inclusive India they dreamt of," it said.

Addressing the media after dinner meet, Singh said: "Today, 36 NDA allies were present at the NDA leaders dinner today. Three NDA allies who were not present today have given their support in writing."

"PM Modi took historical decisions during his tenure. All NDA allies congratulated him," Singh said.

He added that that the poll violence in West Bengal was condemned in the resolution. He also said that NDA has taken a vow to fulfill aspirations of the people and take the country forward. "5 trillion dollar economy is our aim," he added. 

Singh said that the issue of EVMs were discussed during the meeting with alliance partners, adding that narratives like religious hatred are doing rounds in country and need to be changed

The meeting follows another meeting of the council of ministers called by Shah to thank them for "their service to the nation."

During the meeting, PM Modi likened his campaign for this Lok Sabha election to a pilgrimage, saying it stood out from other polls as it was being fought by the people and not the party alone.

"I have seen many elections but this one was beyond politics. Public was fighting them. I have campaigned in assembly elections and undertaken political tours for the party in different elections. When I toured during these polls, it seemed that I was on a pilgrimage," the prime minister was quoted as saying.

He met Union ministers from the BJP as well as allies at the meeting- called 'Aabhar milan' (expressing gratitude)- hosted by party president Amit Shah.

The NDA meeting assumes significance as it has been called just days before the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll's results on May 23, in which almost all the exit polls have projected the alliance getting clear majority in the lower house.

The saffron camp has expressed confidence that the NDA will emerge victorious, with the exit polls too forecasting a return of the Modi government.

Modi's BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is projected to win anything around 310 seats in the 545-member Lok Sabha with the Congress-led opposition alliance getting only 110, a poll of exit polls showed on Sunday.

The predicted BJP margin of victory is bigger than opinion polls indicated in the run-up to the vote, when most surveys showed the NDA would be the largest alliance but would fall short of an overall majority.

Meanwhile, top opposition leaders met in the national capital to discuss the possibility of a non-NDA alliance staking claim to government formation. They also moved the Election Commission (EC) to press for their demand of tallying the paper trail of votes (VVPATs) with the electronic voting machine (EVM) figures.

Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ashok Gehlot, Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress, TDP's Chandrababu Naidu, Satish Chandra Misra of the BSP, Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M), D Raja of the CPI, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Derek O'Brien of the TMC, Ramgopal Yadav of the SP, Kanimozhi of the DMK, Manoj Jha (RJD), Majeed Memon (NCP), Devinder Rana (NC) took part in the meeting among others.