A humbled Modi needs allies, and answers to India's unemployment, inflation

NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to win a rare third term in office, but a smaller-than-expected mandate means he will have to lean more on his allies for support, and that means urgently addressing issues like unemployment, inflation and economic disparities in the world's most populous nation.

Unlike the last two elections, Mr Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will need its alliance partners to cross the 272 majority mark in the 543-seat lower house of parliament, according to the running vote count on June 4.

Mr Modi had set a target of more than 400 seats for his National Democratic Alliance (NDA), but it is currently leading in only about 290, according to Election Commission data about three-quarters of the way through the count. The BJP itself was leading in 239 seats, compared with 303 at the last election in 2019.

Final results are expected to come later on June 4 or early on June 5.

"The BJP's reliance on allies to form the government is a slap in the face," said Dr Milan​​​​ Vaishnav, at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think-tank in Washington.

"At this stage, NDA allies will extract their pound of flesh, which will have an impact not just in terms of policymaking but also in terms of the composition of the Cabinet. (Earlier) the BJP could dictate terms with very little regard for its coalition partners."

Mr Modi, a strong leader, has not had to rely on alliance partners in the past and it was not clear how easily he would cope.

"Modi is not known as a consensual figure," said New Delhi-based political commentator Arathi Jerath. "So, it'll be very interesting to see how he manages the pulls and pressures of a coalition government."

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