India’s Modi to Take Oath Alongside Coalition Allies

AFP/APP

New Delhi: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to be sworn in Sunday for a third term after worse than expected election results left him reliant on coalition partners to govern.

With Modi yet to announce the makeup of this cabinet, the ceremony at the presidential palace on Sunday evening (13:45 GMT) will be keenly watched when some 30 ministers-to-be also take the oath on the constitution.

Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled outright for the past decade but failed to repeat its previous two landslide wins this time around, defying analysts’ expectations and exit polls.

He was instead forced into quick-fire talks with the 15-member coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which guaranteed him the parliamentary numbers to govern.

Larger coalition parties have demanded hefty concessions in exchange for their support.

The Hindustan Times described days of “hectic talks”, while the Times of India said the BJP had sought to “pare down” their partners’ demands.

It is widely reported that the Telgu Desam Party (TDP), the largest BJP ally with 16 seats, has extracted four cabinet positions. 

The next biggest party, the Janata Dal (United) with 12 seats, has negotiated two.

Modi’s previous cabinet had 81 ministers.