NEW DELHI, May 20 � Marking the arrival of a new era in Indian politics, Narendra Modi was today appointed Prime Minister, who said the elections have kindled a �new hope and aspiration� among the common man for whom he dedicated his government, reports PTI.
President Pranab Mukherjee handed over to him the letter appointing him as the Prime Minister and he will be sworn in on May 26 at 6 pm.
The appointment came after the 63-year-old Gujarat Chief Minister was unanimously elected leader of the BJP parliamentary party as well as that of NDA in a meeting that was punctuated by outpouring of emotions by �strongman� Modi who broke down for a moment.
Modi�s formal ascent to the top caps the stunning electoral victory that he had secured in the Lok Sabha elections that will bring in the first non-Congress government in 30 years with absolute majority.
Party patriarch L K Advani, who had opposed projection of Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate, proposed his name for the leader of the BJP parliamentary party which was seconded by a number of leaders including Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari.
His election was received by thumping of desks in the historic Central Hall of Parliament, which reverberated to the cries of �Bharat Mata ki jai�.
At the end of the meeting, BJP president Rajnath Singh invited the gathering of newly-elected MPs to express their approbation with a standing ovation.
The NDA leaders and MPs joined the gathering immediately to elect Modi as the coalition leader and straightaway drove to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to convey to the President the election of their leader so that he can call him to form the government.
In his brief interaction with the media outside Rashtrapati Bhavan, Modi displayed the President�s letter appointing him to the top post.
Earlier, the President greeted Modi on his landslide victory.
�Welcome, welcome, welcome,� Mukherejee said, receiving a bouquet from Modi.
Offering a bunch of flowers, he congratulated him on his �grand victory�.
