Manmohan Singh was today appointed Prime Minister for a second consecutive term after the UPA, citing the support of 322 MPs, staked claim to form the government. He will be sworn-in on Friday. Given the comfortable majority the coalition has in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the President has not asked Singh to prove his strength in the House.

In a letter to Singh when he called on her along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, President Pratibha Patil said: “I have the pleasure to appoint you the Prime Minister and request you to advise me on the names of the others to be appointed to the Council of Ministers. I propose to administer the oath of office and secrecy to you on Friday, 22nd May 2009 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan at a mutually convenient time.” Reading out the President’s letter, Singh said, “You will come to know in due course of time” when asked whether MPs outside pre-poll partners would be included in the new government.

Singh called on the President after a meeting of the UPA, attended only by leaders of Congress and its pre-poll allies, at 10, Janpath, where Gandhi was re-elected chairperson of the coalition.

She told reporters outside Rashtrapati Bhavan that as chairperson of the parliamentary party, she had handed over a letter to the President stating that “the leader of the parliamentary party in Parliament to head the government is Dr Manmohan Singh. The President handed over the letter to Dr Manmohan Singh.”

The PM said the coalition has 274 members including four Independents who are part of the Congress-led pre-poll alliance. “We have the support of SP, BSP and RJD whose number adds up to another 48. All this adds up to 322,” he said.

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