Modi names Cabinet for coalition gov. after party loses majority
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India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recently inaugurated for a third consecutive term, has announced a Cabinet lineup that maintains his key ministers.
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Narendra Modi greets the gathering as he arrives to take oath as the Prime Minister of India at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, in New Delhi, India, on June 9, 2024. (AP)
Narendra Modi, newly inaugurated for a third consecutive term as India's Prime Minister, announced his Cabinet on Monday, maintaining key ministers in crucial roles despite his party losing its majority in a surprising election outcome.
The top four ministries saw no changes. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who has led the country's foreign policy for five years, resumed his role as the External Affairs Minister. Amit Shah retains his position as India’s Home Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman continues as the Finance Minister, and Rajnath Singh remains the Defense Minister.
India's six-week-long election concluded last week, with Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party failing to secure a majority on its own, despite landslide victories in 2014 and 2019. However, his National Democratic Alliance coalition won enough seats to form the government with Modi as its leader.
This marks the first time that the BJP under Modi has required support from its regional allies to form a government, following a decade of commanding the majority in India’s parliament. The final election results revealed that Modi’s BJP won 240 seats, falling well short of the 272 needed for a majority. However, together with the parties in the NDA coalition, they secured 293 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament.
Modi, 73, is only the second Indian prime minister to win a third straight term.
Modi sworn in as PM
This is the first time in a decade that Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party did not secure an absolute majority.
After assuming office, Modi became the first Indian leader since Jawaharlal Nehru to serve three consecutive terms, after the first Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, who previously served as interior and defense ministers, respectively, continued in their roles and were sworn in again.
The results, contrary to exit polls that predicted a BJP landslide, left Modi’s coalition government heavily reliant on two key regional allies—the Telugu Desam Party in southern Andhra Pradesh state and the Janata Dal (United) in eastern Bihar state—to maintain power. On Sunday, two lawmakers from each party were sworn in as ministers.
