NEW DELHI: With the Congress routed in the just-held Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday put in his papers along with the council of ministers.
In his last address to the nation as Prime Minister, Manmohan called his life and tenure in public life as an open book and that he was “an underprivileged child of Partition.” Earlier, Manmohan had chaired the last meeting of his Cabinet that recommended the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha. After he left to submit the resignation of the council of ministers to President Pranab Mukherjee, the Cabinet meet was chaired by senior party leader A K Antony that thanked Manmohan for leading the government for a decade and for the “good” work done, sources said here.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath met Mukherjee and submitted a letter from the Cabinet recommending dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
The President then asked Manmohan to continue in office till the new government takes over. After the BJP’s parliamentary party meets on Tuesday and elects its leader formally, Mukherjee is expected to invite Modi to take oath as prime minister.
In his televised address, Manmohan said he was entrusted with the responsibility to lead the government a decade ago and he had entered upon it “with diligence as my tool, truth as my beacon and a prayer that I might always do the right thing.”