Prime Minister Modi to take oath for the third time on June 8

Modi will become Prime Minister again for the third time on June 8 with support from allies, despite his party not winning a majority in parliament.

Prime Minister Modi submitted resignation to President

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team met with President Droupadi Murmu and handed in their resignation as the final results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections showed 291 wins for the BJP-led NDA and 230 wins for the opposition INDIA bloc parties.

Earlier, the PM led a meeting with his team where they talked about their plans for the next government and he repeated his promise for Viksit Bharat. Afterwards, the PM and ministers visited Murmu and handed in their resignations.

The President agreed to the resignation and asked the Prime Minister and the Union Council of Ministers to stay in their positions until the new Government is established.

Dependence on Allies

Modi, a popular leader in Indian politics since 2014, will now rely on regional allies for the first time. These allies have been uncertain in their support over the years, which might make it harder for the government to push through its plans for change.

On Wednesday, two friends in his team, the Telugu Desam Party and the Janata Dal (United), promised to support him. Chandrababu Naidu, the TDP leader, said that they are with the NDA and he would go to the meeting in Delhi today.

The big group of government leaders met on Wednesday and suggested closing down parliament, which is a necessary step before Modi can start a new government.

Oath to be taken on Saturday, 8 June

Modi and his new team were set to take an oath on Saturday, as per the news. The NDA got 293 seats in the 543-member lower house, more than the 272 required to start a government. Modi’s BJP got 240 seats alone, which might affect India’s financial plans, according to Moody’s.

Fitch, a ratings agency, mentioned that the reduced number of seats for Modi’s group might make it harder to achieve some of the bigger changes in the government’s plans. But they also said that even with fewer seats, we still think the government will stick to its main goals like spending on projects, making business easier, and slowly improving its finances.

Investors think that since the party lost a lot of support in the countryside, the changes in land and labour rules that were supposed to help the economy grow might not happen anymore.

The newspapers mentioned that Modi’s popularity had decreased, and the Indian Express headline said, “India gives NDA a third term, Modi a message.”  Modi’s win in Varanasi, a significant city for Hindus, was not as big as before, with his winning margin dropping from around 500,000 votes in 2019 to just over 150,000 this time.

Arvind Panagariya, who leads a government finance panel, mentioned in the Economic Times newspaper that even though Modi’s win was smaller, it does not automatically mean that important changes will stop.

Arvind Panagariya mentioned that even though the government has fewer seats, they can still make the needed changes. He said that if the government can keep the economy growing well, it will make them stronger in the future. The opposition INDIA alliance, led by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party, did better than expected by winning 230 seats. Congress alone won 99 seats, almost double what they won in 2019. This unexpected increase is likely to improve Gandhi’s position.

The INDIA alliance was supposed to have a meeting on Wednesday in New Delhi to talk about what to do next.