“Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi was sworn in today for his third consecutive term as the leader of a coalition government.” This comes after two successful tenures where the BJP held a majority on its own. At the age of 73, Mr. Modi has matched the achievement of the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who won in the general elections of 1952, 1957, and 1962. Alongside Mr. Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, and other Cabinet Ministers also took their oaths on Sunday.
In a gesture of appreciation towards the BJP’s coalition partners, Mr. Modi has included several MPs from the NDA partners in his government. Two MPs each from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, where the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats, were sworn in. Notable leaders such as Ram Mohan Naidu from TDP, Pemmasani Chandrashekhar, H.D. Kumaraswamy from JD(S), and Sarbananda Sonowal from BJP have also been inducted into the Cabinet. Additionally, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman took their oaths of office today.
In the recent election, the NDA won a total of 286 seats, with the BJP securing 240 seats. Although falling short of the 272 majority mark, this is a decrease from the 303 and 282 seats the BJP won in 2019 and 2014, respectively, to form a majority government. Meanwhile, leaders from seven countries in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region will be present at the swearing-in ceremony.
Rao Inderjit Singh, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal take oath as Ministers of State