Modi sworn in for a third term as India’s prime minister

NNew Delhi: Narendra Modi was sworn in on Sunday for a rare third consecutive term as India’s prime minister, relying on his coalition partners after his party failed to win a parliamentary majority in a surprise result.

Modi and his ministers took the oath, administered by President Draupadi Murmu, at India’s presidential palace, Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi.

The popular but polarizing 73-year-old leader is only the second Indian prime minister, after Jawaharlal Nehru, to hold power for a third five-year term.

His Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which won overwhelmingly in 2014 and 2019, failed to secure a majority govern alone in the last national elections. However, Modi’s National Democratic Alliance coalition won enough seats to form a government, with him at the helm.

This is the first time the BJP under Modi needed the support of its regional allies to form a government after a decade commanding a majority in Parliament.

Final election results released on Wednesday showed that Modi’s BJP won 240 seats, well short of the 272 needed for a majority. Together, the NDA coalition parties secured 293 seats in the 543-member lower house of Parliament.

Modi’s coalition government now depends largely on two key regional allies – the Telugu Desam Party in southern Andhra Pradesh state and Janata Dal (United) in eastern Bihar state – to stay in power.

Meanwhile, Modi’s political opponent, the INDIA alliance led by the resurgent Congress Party, has presented a fight stronger than expecteddoubling its strength since the last elections to win 232 seats.

A declared Hindu nationalist, the prime minister is considered a champion of the country’s Hindu majority, which represent 80% of India’s 1.4 billion population. His supporters credit him with rapid economic growth and improving India’s global standing since he came to power.

But critics say he is also undermined India’s democracy and its status as a secular nation with attacks by Hindu nationalists against the country’s minorities, especially Muslims, and an ever-shrinking space for dissent and press freedom. His political opponents have questioned his government’s economic record, pointing to high unemployment and rising inequality despite strong growth.

Several South Asian leaders attended the inauguration ceremony on Sunday, including Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the President of the Maldives , Mohamed Muizzu.

Tensions between India and the Maldives have risen since Muizzu was elected last year. He has since taken a pro-China stance and removed Indian troops stationed on one of the Maldivian islets.