Narendra Modi on Sunday was sworn-in as the Prime Minister of India for the third consecutive time by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) under the leadership of PM Modi will be forming the government at the Centre for the third term in a row.
A historic moment for Modi
The event was considered as an extraordinary one since Narendra Modi is the only leader after former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who has been elected for a third consecutive term after completing the full tenure of each previous term.
Meanwhile, posters featuring PM-designate Narendra Modi were put up in Delhi ahead of his swearing-in ceremony.
Around 1,100 traffic police personnel of the Delhi Police were deployed and an advisory was issued to the public for the traffic movement. Route arrangements were also made for the delegates as part of the arrangements for the oath ceremony held on June 9, 2024.
‘Neighbourhood First’
Several leaders and State heads of neighbourhood region and Indian Ocean region were invited for PM Modi’s swearing-in ceremony as distinguished guests, a testament to India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in an official statement on Saturday said, “President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe; President of Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu; Vice-President of Seychelles, Ahmed Afif; Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina; Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth; Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’; and Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, have accepted the invitation to attend.”
Apart from the leaders and state heads, more than 250 workers who were involved in the construction of the Parliament also marked their presence in the ceremony.
Meanwhile, highlighting the significance of the event, the MEA emphasised, “The visit of the leaders to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his third consecutive term is in keeping with the highest priority accorded by India to its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and ‘SAGAR’ vision.”
Additionally, the MEA mentioned that besides participating in the swearing-in ceremony, the leaders will also grace a banquet hosted by President Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, later in the same evening.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also attended the ceremony.
NDA’s victory
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP secured 240 seats, with the NDA obtaining a total of 293 seats out of 543 in the lower house.
Congress fought the election as part of the INDIA bloc and the parties together were able to prevent BJP from getting a majority on its own in Lok Sabha.
The Congress, part of the INDIA bloc, managed to secure 99 seats, while other parties like Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, and DMK won 37, 29, and 22 seats respectively.
