Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi was sworn in this Sunday as prime minister of the India for a historic third consecutive termin which he will have to govern in coalition for the first time after close elections in which his party did not obtain the majority.
Modi, 73, was sworn in as head of the new Government during a ceremony at the presidential residencewhich was attended by several heads of state and prime ministers of allied nations of the India.
In addition to Modi, the ministers of the future cabinet were sworn in, although it is still unknown which portfolio each will hold.
The former Minister of the Interior, Amit Shahthe last Foreign Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankaror the former Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharamanwill be some of the well-known faces of the new Government.
Its about Modi’s third straight termwho came to power for the first time in 2014 and was re-elected in 2019. On both occasions, the president governed alone thanks to the majorities that his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), achieved in the Lower House of Parliament or Lok Sabha.
However, The 240 seats that the BJP obtained in the recent general elections were insufficient to reach the 272 seats that provide a parliamentary majorityso Modi was forced to seek support from his coalition partners National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which leads the BJP.
It is the first time that Modi’s BJP needs the support of its regional allies to form a government, after a decade commanding the majority in Parliament.
Those responsible for this alliance, which totaled some 290 seats, unanimously elected last Wednesday Modi as its leader for the new legislaturegiving him free rein to govern the largest democracy on the planet again.
In exchange, however, The BJP granted more than a dozen ministries to the rest of the NDA partiesaccording to the newspaper Indian Express.
Meanwhile, Modi’s political rival, the alliance INDIAled by the resurgent Congress Partypresented a stronger battle than expected, doubling its strength compared to the last elections and obtaining 232 seats.
The ceremony was attended by seven political leaders from India’s allied nations: the presidents of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesingheand Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu; the vice president of Seychelles, Ahmed Afif; or the prime ministers of Bangladesh, Sheikh HasinaNepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal,Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay and Mauricio, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.
With his third consecutive term, Modi equals the record of Jawaharlal Nehruthe first president of India after independence from the British Empire in 1947, and who governed the country for three uninterrupted terms until his death in 1964.
The Prime Minister, an avowed Hindu nationalist, is considered a defender of the country’s Hindu majority, which makes up 80% of India’s 1.4 billion people. His supporters credit him with rapid economic growth and India’s improved global standing since he came to power.
But their Critics say it has also undermined Indian democracy. and its status as a secular nation, with attacks by Hindu nationalists against the country’s minorities, especially Muslims, and a reduction in the space for dissent and free media. His political opponents have questioned the economic record of his government, pointing out the high unemployment rate and the growing inequality despite strong growth.
(With information from EFE and AP)
