Narendra Modi takes oath as Prime Minister of India

Updated 1 hour ago

Narendra Modi, leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has been sworn in as India’s prime minister for the third time.

The ceremony was held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the Indian President.

Modi’s National Democratic Alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, won the general election with 293 seats, a smaller margin than exit polls had predicted.

Thousands of guests attended his inauguration ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. They include the heads of state of neighboring Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, but not Pakistan or China.

Tight security measures were imposed in Delhi, which was declared a no-fly zone, with more than 2,500 police officers deployed around the place.

Modi said he would uphold India’s sovereignty and unity and rule with “true faith and loyalty to the Constitution.”

He said: “I will do what is right for all people according to the constitution and the law without fear or favour.”

During the ceremony, President Draupadi Murmu also took oath of office in the cabinet of the new Modi government.

The 73-year-old is the second Indian leader to win a third consecutive term after the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Opinion polls predicted a landslide victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which ruled India for ten years, but it lost its parliamentary majority in the elections.

The NDA bloc relied on two key allies, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal (United) JD(U), to cross the 272-seat mark needed to form the government.

On Friday, MPs-elect voted Mr Modi as leader of the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament), parliamentary leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and leader of the NDA.

It is not clear what concessions his allies might have negotiated in exchange for their support. Indian media reported that many of them are seeking key ministerial positions.

The opposition India Alliance, led by the Congress Party, described the elections as a mandate against the Modi government.

But Modi hit back on Friday, saying: “The opposition tried to portray the 2024 Lok Sabha results as a loss for us. But we did not lose, we never lost, and we will never lose.”

Modi thanked voters for their mandate and said he would “do everything” to eradicate corruption and poverty.

“Empowering the poor and the middle class is our priority,” he said.

During his election campaign, critics accused Modi and his party of using hate speech, attacking the country’s Muslim minority, and imprisoning opposition figures.

The Prime Minister-elect on Friday said the NDA alliance was “committed to the principle of ‘sarva panth sambhava’ (religious equality).

The India Alliance said it would do its duty in Parliament by monitoring the government and protecting the Constitution.