India election: Modi secures coalition support, handing him third term in power

Experts argue that Modi, who has dominated the government with the BJP’s majority in his last two terms, will be forced to adapt as never before to ensure his coalition partners do not pull the rug out from under him.

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, an author and independent political commentator, said Modi could not remain the same type of “authoritarian leader that he has been for the last 10 years”.

“If things do not work under Modi, then there will be pressure on him to step down. He will have to become a new Modi,” he said. “It will be tough for him because he has never done that before.”

The BJP secured only 240 seats in this election, far short of its target of 370 seats and far fewer than the 303 it won in 2019. The party suffered its most surprising reverses in its Hindi-speaking heartland states.

To reach the 272 seats required for a majority to form the new government, the ruling party had to rely on its coalition partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which collectively secured 293 seats.

On Wednesday, party representatives of the NDA met at Modi’s house in New Delhi to discuss the formation of the next government.

“We all unanimously choose respected NDA leader Narendra Modi as our leader,” a BJP-issued alliance statement said after the meeting.

It said the NDA government would “preserve India’s heritage” and work for the “all-round development of the country”.

Indian media reports said Modi would be sworn in as prime minister on Saturday.

Modi’s most pressing political concern now, is maintaining the support of two veteran regional leaders who have had past differences with him in the past: Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party, whose stronghold is the state of Andhra Pradesh, and Nitish Kumar of Janata