Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Council of Ministers submitted their resignations to President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday, according to a statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan.
President Murmu accepted the resignations and requested that Modi continue in his role until the new government is formed, as stated in the communique.
Prior to resigning, the prime minister chaired a Union Cabinet meeting, which recommended the dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha, set to end on 16 June.
Sources familiar with the matter said the Cabinet meeting also reviewed the Lok Sabha election results and discussed potential government formation.
Tuesday’s election results showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning 240 seats, a loss of 63 seats from the 303 it secured five years earlier. Although the ruling party fell short of the 272-seat majority in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) achieved a clear third term with 293 seats.
The opposition INDIA alliance, led by the Indian National Congress, garnered 233 seats, with Congress nearly doubling its representation to 99 seats.
In the 2019 election, the NDA had secured 353 seats, while the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance had won 91 seats.
On Wednesday, rating agency Moody’s stated that the NDA’s victory in the recent Indian general election would ensure policy continuity. However, it noted that the slim margin of victory and loss of an outright majority in Parliament could delay significant economic and fiscal reforms, potentially hindering progress on fiscal consolidation.
