Narendra Modi takes oath for third consecutive term as PM

Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi took oath today for a third straight term as the head of a coalition government after two full tenures in which the BJP enjoyed a majority on its own. Mr. Modi, 73, equalled the feat of the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who won in the 1952, 1957 and 1962 general elections. After Mr. Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari also took oath on Sunday alongside other Cabinet Ministers.

Rewarding the BJP’s coalition partners in the southern States, Mr. Modi is set to induct several MPs from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana into his Council of Ministers, PTI sources said. Two MPs each from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, where the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats, will take oath. Several leaders, including TDP’s Ram Mohan Naidu, Pemmasani Chandrashekhar, JD(S)‘s H.D. Kumaraswamy, BJP’s Sarbananda Sonowal will likely be inducted into the Cabinet. Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman will also take the oath of office today. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Pralhad Joshi are likely to be accommodated as Ministers. 

The NDA won 286 seats in this election, and the BJP won 240 seats, falling short of the 272 majority mark. This is well below the 303 and 282 seats it had won in 2019 and 2014, respectively, to have a majority on its own. Meanwhile, leaders of seven countries from South Asia and the Indian Ocean region will attend the swearing-in ceremony.