PM Modi’s ‘thanksgiving’ meet with council of ministers ahead of Lok Sabha election results

New Delhi, May 21: Two days to go for the counting of votes for the national election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah met the Union council of ministers at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The BJP described the meeting as an occasion to thank ministers for "their service to the nation" ahead of the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha election on May 23, following which a new government will assume charge.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Arun Jaitley, JP Nadda and Prakash Javadekar were among the key leaders from the BJP at the meeting.

Some ministers from BJP allies, including Ram Vilas Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party, Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Akali Dal and Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal, were also present.

The saffron camp has expressed confidence that the NDA will emerge victorious, with the exit polls too forecasting a return of the Modi government. Shah is also hosting a dinner for BJP leaders and allies later in the day.

The BJP-led NDA, which came to power in 2014 winning 336 seats, is again expected to comfortably cross the 300-mark in the 543 member Lok Sabha, according to many of the exit polls.