President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday dissolved the 16th Lok Sabha with immediate effect on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet, a statement from his office said.

“The President has accepted the advice of the Cabinet on 24.05.2019 and signed the Order dissolving the 16th Lok Sabha in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by Sub-clause (b) of Clause (2) of Article 85 of the Constitution,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in the statement.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India submitted the list of 542 newly-elected members of the Lok Sabha to the president that will enable him to initiate the formal process of new government formation.

Advertisement

On Friday, at a special meeting, the Union Cabinet passed a resolution to dissolve the Lok Sabha. Soon after the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Council of Ministers tendered their resignations to Kovind. Accepting their resignations, the president requested Modi to be the caretaker prime minister till the new government assumes office.

“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 after resigning. “We are even more determined to fulfil the dreams of 130 crore Indians and create the New India all of us dreamt of.”

The next Lok Sabha has to be constituted before June 3, when the term of the 16th Lok Sabha ends. The process to form a new House will be initiated when the Election Commissioners meet President Ram Nath Kovind to hand over the list of newly-elected members, PTI reported on Thursday.

Advertisement

Recording a massive victory, the Bharatiya Janata Party alone won 303 seats out of the 542 seats in the 2019 General Elections. The Congress secured only 52 seats, which is not enough for it to claim the post of the Leader of Opposition in the new House.

Modi is expected to be sworn in as the prime minister next week.