Modi Sworn in for Historic Third Term as India’s Prime Minister
After landing a spacecraft on the moon, championing a Hindu renaissance and leading India’s fast-growing economy, Narendra Modi has been sworn in as Prime Minister for a historic third term in a grand ceremony at the presidential palace in Delhi.
Modi came out on top of the ‘mammoth’ elections that mobilized almost a billion voters.
The leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party took his oath and said he would ‘do right to all manner of people without affection or ill-will’.
BBC reported:
“Mr. Modi’s BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won the general election with 293 seats, a much lower margin than predicted by exit polls.
[…] Thousands of guests have been attending his inauguration at Delhi’s presidential palace. Among them are the heads of neighboring Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives – but not Pakistan or China.”
Heavy security was put in place in the capital Delhi with more than 2,500 police officers deployed.
After he was sworn in by President Draupadi Murmu, Modi vowed to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, to govern with ‘true faith and allegiance to the constitution’.
“He said: ‘I will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the constitution and the law without fear or favour’.”
Modi is the second Indian PM to win a third consecutive term, after the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
“Mr. Modi thanked voters for their mandate, and said he would ‘do everything’ to eradicate corruption and poverty. ‘Empowering the poor and middle class is our priority’, he said.”
Associated Press reported:
“This is the first time the BJP under Modi has needed support from its regional allies to form a government after a decade of commanding the majority in Parliament.
Final election results released Wednesday showed Modi’s BJP won 240 seats, well below the 272 needed for a majority. Together, the parties in the NDA coalition secured 293 seats in the 543-member lower house of Parliament.”
Modi is a proud Hindu nationalist, considered a champion of the country’s Hindu majority – 80% of India’s 1.4 billion population.
Under his premiership, India is seeing rapid economic growth and an improvement of India’s global standing.
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