India election: Modi to be sworn in for new term as PM on June 8

NEW DELHI/BENGALURU -- Election Commission officials on Tuesday counted ballots cast over India's six-week general election, which ended on June 1.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance has clinched a third term in office, but the race was closer than expected, with his BJP losing its outright majority.

Here is how the election has unfolded (times are in India Standard Time):

Thursday (June 6)

5:00 p.m. During India's six-week elections, most political pundits had predicted a landslide victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.

They were in for a shock when the results of the world's largest elections rolled in on Tuesday. The ruling party lost its outright majority for the first time since coming to power a decade ago. The BJP took just 240 seats in the 543-seat lower house of parliament, more than 30 short of a majority and forcing it to rely on allies to form a new government.

Here are five things to know about the surprise election results.

11:00 a.m. Indian shares rise in early trading, led by gains in state-run companies, as investors moved past shock election results that reduced the ruling party's majority. The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.93% at 22,831 as of 10:31 a.m and the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.95% to 75,088, according to Reuters.

Modi's National Democratic Alliance formally named him as the leader of a new coalition government, a day after it regained power with the surprisingly slim majority.

Wednesday (June 5)

9:30 p.m. Election results showing an underwhelming victory for Modi's coalition sparked volatile trading in shares of companies owned by Gautam Adani, prompting an opposition leader to claim that the fates of the nation's leader and its most prominent