The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha is likely to begin around 15 June. According to official sources, the first session will commence in the third week of June with the oath-taking by the newly elected candidates as members of the House.
The oath-taking is likely to continue for two days, following which a new Speaker will be elected. The next day, the president will address a joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, thus formally inaugurating the session.
However, a final decision will be taken by the new Union Cabinet, which will meet on Sunday evening soon after the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi and his council of ministers.
Meanwhile, ahead of the oath-taking ceremony of Modi as prime minister for the third time on Sunday, the newly-elected NDA MPs are set to meet on Saturday to finalise the cabinet ministers. The BJP is expected to keep key ministries—Home, External Affairs, Defence, and Finance—with itself.
Senior saffron party leaders Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and BJP chief J.P. Nadda had been holding discussions with the alliance partners on seat sharing on Friday. Media reports suggest that three Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MPs would be given cabinet berths in the new NDA government. There is also speculation that the party may be offered the position of the deputy speaker.
During the session, Narendra Modi will also introduce members of his cabinet. The 17th Lok Sabha was dissolved on 5 June by President Droupadi Murmu on the advice of the Union Cabinet.
Murmu appointed Modi as the prime minister-designate on Friday after BJP chief J P Nadda handed her a letter on Modi’s election as the leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party and NDA leaders submitted their letters of support.
The BJP won 240 seats in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, falling short of the halfway mark in the 543-member House, but the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) together won 293 seats, which is a comfortable majority.
