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Modi sworn in for third term as India’s prime minister

India's President Droupadi Murmu (L) administers the Oath of Office for Narendra Modi (R) as he assumes office for a third consecutive term as Prime Minister of India at a grand ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan palace in New Delhi, on Sunday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken the Oath of Office for a third straight term. 

Modi, 73, took oath on Sunday at a grand ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan palace in New Delhi, attended by thousands of dignitaries.

India's President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath for Modi as regional leaders, Bollywood stars and industrialists watched.

Alongside Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah amd Nitin Gadkari also took oath as Cabinet Ministers.

Despite the win, the BJP fell short of the 272 seats required for independent governance. It only got 240 seats.

Modi's party is shadowed by opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) led by the country’s oldest party, the Indian National Congress, which secured 232 seats.

The BJP also failed to secure a majority in key states, showing a significant drop in the political landscape that the party has been in control of for the last ten years.

The 15-member BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition has 293 seats in parliament, giving it control of the legislature.

Modi's party has governed India as part of the NDA coalition over the past decade, but this is the first time under his leadership that the party has needed support from its regional allies to form a government.

“This alliance of ours reflects India’s spirit in its true sense,” Modi said after the BJP and coalition members backed him as their prime ministerial candidate.

“We were neither defeated nor are we defeated ... it was an NDA government in the past, still is and will be,” he said.

Observers and political analysts view the election results as the beginning of the end of Modi and the BJP.

Modi's supporters credit him for transforming the country into an emerging global power since sweeping to power in 2014.

His critics accuse him of eroding human rights, cracking down on freedom of the press and stoking hatred toward religious minorities.

During the election campaign, Modi was accused of hate speech and peddling anti-Muslim tropes after describing Muslims as “infiltrators”.

“The results have shown that India has rejected this rhetoric from Modi and his people,” said Hasan Salim Patel, a communications consultant and former planning editor at Al Jazeera.


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