Union Cabinet, Council of Ministers scheduled to meet today

The Cabinet and Union Council of Ministers are scheduled to meet on Friday evening to pass a resolution, recommending the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.

"The Cabinet and Union Council of Ministers will meet this evening," government spokesperson Sitanshu Kar wrote on his Twitter handle.

He said the dates for the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister and Union Council of Ministers are yet to be decided.

"The dates for the swearing-in ceremony and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits to various parts of the country are yet to be decided," he wrote.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah visited veteran leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to seek their blessings after the BJP-led NDA won a second term with a resounding majority.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi and Shah had addressed the party workers at its headquarters in the national capital.

"I promise you that I am going to deliver whatever you expect from us. We will never disappoint you. But I assure you all that I will work hard to deliver all the promises and I am saying this in public," Prime Minister Modi had said.

"In the coming days, I will not do anything with bad intentions or thinking. There can be mistakes while doing work but nothing will be done with bad intentions or bad thinking," he had added.

The ruling BJP's election campaign was spearheaded by Prime Minister Modi on muscular nationalism and a strident anti-Congress plank.

Retaining his sway in the Hindi heartland, Prime Minister Modi won from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat for the second consecutive term with a margin of 4,79,505 votes.

He was pitted against Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Shalini Yadav and Congress candidate Ajay Rai in the constituency.

Congress has suffered a major defeat in this election and managed to get only 52 seats. The BJP has won 302 seats and is leading on one seat.

-ANI