India: Narendra Modi’s Third Term at the Helm Begins
All major leaders of South Asian countries are attending the ceremony
In India, the presidential residence of Rashtrapati Bhavan (pictured below) is all set for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his unprecedented third term at the head of the country’s government. Many Asian leaders, including Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, and Seychelles Vice President Ahmed Afif arrived in the Indian capital New Delhi.
“The visits of South Asian leaders to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi correspond to the highest priorities of India’s foreign policy based on the Good Neighborhood First principle,” the Indian Foreign Ministry emphasized in a press release.
Indian President Droupadi Murmu (pictured left) will lead the swearing-in ceremony for Modi and members of the Council of Ministers at 7:15 p.m. local time (4:45 p.m. Italian time), who will later offer the Asian leaders and dignitaries a gala dinner.
On June 7, President Murmu received a delegation from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which won the general election, led by Jagat Prakash Nadda, president of the Indian People’s Party (BJP), who informed it that “Prime Minister Modi was elected leader of the BJP parliamentary group and from which he received letters of support for the formation of the government he leads.”
Elections to renew the Lok Sabha (People’s House), the lower house of the Indian Parliament, which together with the upper house of the Rajya Sabha constitutes the legislative body of India, were held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1, 2024. After counting the ballots on June 4, it was announced that the BJP alone had managed to win 240 seats in the Lok Sabha, down from 303 seats in the previous elections in 2019 and the threshold of absolute majority (272 seats). Rahul Gandhi’s Indian National Congress (INC) won 99 seats compared to 52 in 2019. In any case, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won 293 seats, losing 60, while the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will control 234 parliamentary seats in the People’s House.
