India’s Prime Minister Termnarendra Modi Takes Office for Third Consecutive Mandate
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Narendra Modi (C) takes oath as India’s prime minister during the swearing-in ceremony at the presidential palace in New Delhi, India. Photo: EFE/EPA/RAJAT GUPTA
June 9, 2024 Hour: 1:03 pm
Populist Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi took the oath this Sunday as Prime Minister of India for a historic third consecutive term, in which he will have to govern in coalition for the first time after a close election in which his party did not obtain a majority.
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Modi sworn in as head of the new government during a ceremony at the presidential residence attended neighbour countries including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives, Seychelles, and other India’s allies nations.
This is the third term followed by Modi, who came to power for the first time in 2014 and was re-elected in 2019. On both occasions, the president ruled alone thanks to the majorities that his party, the hindu conservative Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), achieved in the Lower House of Parliament or Lok Sabha.
However, the 240 seats the BJP won in the recent general elections were insufficient to reach the 272 seats granting a parliamentary majority, so Modi was forced to seek the support of his partners in the coalition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which leads the BJP.
The leaders of this alliance, which totaled some 290 seats, unanimously elected Modi last Wednesday as their leader for the new legislature, giving him free rein to govern again the largest democracy on the planet with more than 642 million voters.
In addition 30 Cabinet Ministers are taking oath, along with 36 Ministers of State and five Ministers of State with Independent Charge will also be sworn in on India’s constitution, including deputies from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the BJP’s biggest ally, and the Janata Dal (United).
Local Newspaper The Indian Express says the BJP had to grant more than a dozen ministries to the rest of the NDA parties to consolidate the alliance.
Local outlet also adds that that the main portfolios in the cabinet, including the four most powerful ministries: Interior, Foreign, Finances and Defense would remain with the BJP. Former Interior Minister Amit Shah, late Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, or former Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will be some of the familiar faces of the new government.
Autor: ACJ
Fuente: The Indian Express // EFE // Al-Jazeera
