PRESIDENT Ram Nath Kovind on Friday accepted resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him to continue till a new Government assumes office, a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhawan said.

The Prime Minister met the President and tendered his resignation along with the Council of Ministers, it said.

“The President has accepted the resignation and requested Modi and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new Government assumes office,” the communique said.Earlier in the day, the Union Cabinet recommended the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.

 

The Cabinet meeting came a day after the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections in which the NDA retained power with a massive mandate. Later, at a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers, all members of the Council tendered their collective resignation. The 17th Lok Sabha has to be constituted before June 3. The process to form a

new House will be initiated when the three Election Commissioners meet the President in the next few days to hand over the list of newly-elected members.Besides the Prime Minister, the Union Council of Ministers has 60 members, including Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State with Independent charges and Ministers of State.

 

In the absence of the PM, the Union Council of Ministers passed a resolution praising the leadership of Modi and the work done by the Government in the last five years. The present Modi Government had taken oath on May 26, 2014.

‘SUN HAS SET ON TERM OF GOVT, BUT ITS BRIGHTNESS WILL CONTINUE’: Moments after President Ram Nath Kovind accepted resignation of the Union Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while the sun has set on the term of the present Government, the brightness of its work will continue to illuminate the lives of people.

“The sun sets on this term, but the brightness our work has brought will continue to illuminate the lives of millions. A new dawn awaits, a new term beckons,” Modi tweeted.

He said his Government is even more determined to fulfill the dreams of 130 crore Indians and create the “New India all of us dreamt of”.Meanwhile, BJP workers from Varanasi Friday handed him the official certificate of election.

Modi won the Varanasi constituency by a margin of 4.79 lakh votes, thus retaining the seat.Feel happy to be representing one of the oldest and most vibrant centres of Indian culture, he tweeted.Earlier in the day, Modi met officers and staff of the Prime Minister’s Office at South Block.

 

“The Prime Minister appreciated the efforts and dedication of the entire PMO, over the last five years and urged everyone to rededicate themselves to work even harder to play a key role in fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the people of India. “He said people have great expectations from the government, and these expectations provide Team PMO with the energy to work to the utmost,” an official statement said.