Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was formally elected as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance coalition on Friday, following the coalition’s victory in the country’s national election, after his political party failed to secure a majority independently.
The 73-year-old leader, who will be sworn in as prime minister on Sunday for a rare third term, will now establish a coalition government.
Modi’s Hindu nationalist party BJP has governed India as part of the NDA coalition over the past decade, but this is the first time under his leadership that the party has required support from its regional allies to form a government.
“This alliance of ours reflects India’s spirit in its true sense,” Modi remarked after the BJP and coalition members endorsed him as their prime ministerial candidate. “We were neither defeated nor are we defeated … it was an NDA government in the past, still is and will be,” he added.
Complete results from India’s six-week-long election, which commenced in mid-April, were announced on Wednesday. The BJP secured 240 seats, falling well below the 272 mark required for a majority in a remarkable upset.
Collectively, the parties in the NDA coalition secured 293 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament.
Meanwhile, Modi’s political rival, the INDIA alliance led by the Congress party, mounted a stronger-than-anticipated challenge, defying forecasts of decline by doubling its strength from the previous election to clinch a total of 232 seats.
Before Modi’s formal election as the NDA leader, local media reported that the two crucial regional allies, which could make or break his coalition government — the Telugu Desam Party in southern Andhra Pradesh state and Janata Dal (United) in eastern Bihar state — were vying for positions in significant ministries, some of which the BJP had previously held.
On Thursday, the rejuvenated opposition intensified pressure on Modi and the BJP. During a press conference, Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party’s primary campaigner, demanded a parliamentary inquiry into what he labelled the “biggest stock market scam,” alleging that Modi and other senior BJP ministers deceived retail investors who ultimately suffered financial losses.
India’s two primary benchmark stock indexes reached new highs on Monday after exit polls predicted a BJP landslide victory but plummeted sharply on Tuesday, closing down by more than 5% as early voting figures emerged.
In television interviews last month, Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had stated that the markets would soar when results were announced on June 4.
The BJP refuted Gandhi’s accusations of collusion between the party and exit pollsters and accused the Congress leader of attempting to dissuade investors.
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