NEW DELHI: Leaders of India's Hindu nationalist opposition huddled in meetings Wednesday to discuss strategy after exit polls forecast a sweeping victory for the party when results of the marathon election are announced in two days.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Narendra Modi who has campaigned on a pledge of development, investment and jobs is expected to become India's 14th prime minister at the head of a BJP-led coalition after the official results Friday.
Senior party figures Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Sushma Swaraj, who are all expected to hold major cabinet positions, met in New Delhi.
"We've got lots to discuss," said Singh, referring to post-poll scenarios and strategies. Singh, currently the BJP president, was mum on who would get which senior jobs.
But media reports suggested Swaraj, currently the BJP leader in the parliamentary lower house, might get the external affairs portfolio while veteran BJP leader Arun Jaitley would become finance minister.
Singh might end up with the home ministry, the reports added. Singh was more forthcoming on the outcome of the election, insisting that "the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is getting a clear majority".
"One thing is sure is that Narendra Modi is becoming the next prime minister of India," Singh told reporters after arriving in Ahmedabad, the main commercial city of the western state of Gujarat, for another set of planning meetings with Modi and other BJP leaders.
India's NDTV news network released a new exit poll on Wednesday forecasting that the NDA will secure 279 seats, just above the halfway mark needed for a majority in the 543-seat parliament.
It forecast the ruling alliance will only be able to win 103 seats, with Congress touching a low of 79 seats. However, India's exit polls have been proved wrong in the past.
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