Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures when arriving at the headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi, India, on June 4, 2024.
Adnan Abidi | Reuters
NEW DELHI — Narendra Modi was sworn in as India’s prime minister on Sunday for a rare third consecutive term. Alliance partners.
Modi and his cabinet ministers were sworn in at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, presided over by President Dhurupati Murmu.
The popular but polarizing leader, 73, is only the second Indian prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru to remain in power for a third five-year term.
His Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won landslide victories in 2014 and 2019 but failed to secure a majority to govern independently in recent national elections. However, Modi’s National Democratic Alliance alliance won enough seats to form a government led by him.
This is the first time Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has needed the support of regional allies to form a government a decade after taking a majority in parliament.
Final election results released on Wednesday showed Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party won 240 seats, well short of the 272 needed for a majority. The parties in the NDA alliance together secured 293 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament.
Modi’s coalition government now relies heavily on two important regional allies – the Telugu Desam Party in southern Andhra Pradesh and the Janata Dal (United Party) in eastern Bihar – —to maintain power.
At the same time, Modi’s political challenger, the Indian Alliance led by the resurgent Congress Party, has exceeded expectations and doubled its strength from the previous election, winning 232 seats.
The prime minister is an avowed Hindu nationalist and is considered a champion of India’s Hindu majority, which makes up 80% of India’s 1.4 billion people. His supporters praise the rapid economic growth and India’s enhanced global standing since he came to power.
But critics say he has also undermined India’s democracy and its status as a secular state, with Hindu nationalist attacks on the country’s minorities, especially Muslims, and shrinking space for dissent and free media. His political opponents have questioned his government’s economic record, pointing to high unemployment and rising inequality despite strong economic growth.
Several South Asian leaders attended Sunday’s swearing-in ceremony, including Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Daha Al and Maldivian President Mohamed Muizou.
Tensions between India and the Maldives have increased since Muizou was elected last year. He has since adopted a pro-China stance and withdrew Indian troops stationed on a small island in the Maldives.
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