Modi sets out his mandate to form a new government

Narendra Modi was formally elected yesterday as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition, setting the stage for his third term as prime minister of India. While Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell well short of the majority mark of 272 seats, winning only 240 seats in its own right, the NDA coalition together won 293 seats, some 61 ahead of the opposition INDIA alliance led by the Congress party.

- NAMITA SINGH

Mr Modi, 73, will be sworn in as prime minister tomorrow to begin a rare third term, making him only the second person, after India’s independence hero and first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, to win three consecutive elections.

Though Mr Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP has governed India as part of the NDA coalition over the past decade, this is the first time under his leadership that the party has relied on support from its smaller allies to form a government. Mr Modi tried to play down the significance of this development, which analysts say could have significant implications for his ability to pass major policies in the years to come.

“This alliance of ours reflects India’s spirit in its true sense,” Mr Modi said after the BJP and coalition members backed 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.”