Modi to take oath as India PM tomorrow

Narendra Modi will take oath as India’s Prime Minister for the third successive term tomorrow, as his National Democratic Alliance (NDA) formally presented its claim to the president yesterday to form a government.

World leaders, including Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Nepalese PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal, will attend the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Modi, along with NDA leaders, yesterday met President Droupadi Murmu and submitted the claim of the alliance, led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, to run the world’s most populous nation for the next five years, the President’s Office said.

“I want to assure the people of the country that in the 18th Lok Sabha (lower house) also…we will work with the same pace, same commitment to fulfil aspirations of the people,” Modi told reporters outside the president’s palace.

It is the first time in a decade that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – which won majorities outright in 2014 and 2019 – has needed the support of regional parties to form the government, a shift that initially spooked markets and worries analysts about policy certainty and fiscal discipline.

“It is my good fortune that all of you from NDA have chosen me to lead,” Modi said earlier yesterday after NDA lawmakers voted for him to head their coalition.

“No alliance has ever been as successful as the NDA,” he said, after lawmakers and senior leaders thumped tables and applauded, with some standing and chanting “Modi, Modi!” in the central hall of the old parliament building.

“We have won the majority… but to run the country it is unanimity that is crucial…we will strive for unanimity,” he said, in a sign of the change in style coalition government may force on a leader used to ruling with a strong hand.

The new government would, among others, focus on raising savings of the middle class and improve the quality of their lives as the “middle class is the driving force of the country”, Modi added.

Key NDA leaders – whose support has wavered in the past as they hopped in and out of alliances – praised Modi and expressed confidence in his leadership, reports Reuters.

“I am confident that whatever is left he will now complete it. We will be with him at every step,” said Nitish Kumar, chief minister of the eastern state of Bihar whose Janata Dal (United) party is the third largest in the NDA with 12 lawmakers.

Indian media said both Kumar’s party and the Telugu Desam Party, the second largest with 16 lawmakers, are eyeing the post of the Speaker in the lower house, while BJP itself is expected to retain four key ministries – foreign affairs, defence, home and finance.

The Janata Dal (United) also wants the new government to review a military recruitment system introduced in 2022 under which young men and women are enlisted for a four-year tenure at non-officer ranks, with only a quarter retained for longer periods.

Previously, soldiers were recruited by the army, navy and air force separately and typically entered service for up to 17 years for the lowest ranks.

The shorter tenure caused concern among potential recruits and led to riots in some parts of the country as it was seen as hurting employment prospects.

The coalition negotiations are a throwback to an era before 2014, when Modi swept to power with an outright majority for his BJP.