NEW DELHI, India
Narendra Modi has been sworn in as India's prime minister for a third term in a grand ceremony at the presidential palace in Delhi.
The leader of the Bharatiya
Janata Party took his oath, saying he would "do right to all manner of
people without affection or ill-will".
Mr Modi's BJP-led National
Democratic Alliance won the general election with 293 seats, a much lower
margin than predicted by exit polls.
The election saw a resurgence
of India's opposition, which won 234 seats.
Thousands of guests have been
attending his inauguration at Delhi's presidential palace. Among them are the
heads of neighbouring Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives - but not
Pakistan or China.
Tight security has been in
place in Delhi, which was declared a no-fly zone, with more than 2,500 police
officers deployed around the venue.
Speaking as he was sworn in by
President Draupadi Murmu, Mr Modi said he would uphold the sovereignty and
integrity of India and govern with "true faith and allegiance to the
constitution".
He said: "I will do right
to all manner of people in accordance with the constitution and the law without
fear or favour."
A council of ministers of Mr
Modi's new cabinet were also sworn in during the ceremony.
Mr Modi, 73, is only the
second Indian leader to win a third consecutive term after the country’s first
prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Exit polls had projected
outright victory for his Hindu Nationalist BJP party, which ruled India for a
decade, but it lost its parliamentary majority in the general election.
His NDA bloc relied on two key
allies, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal (United) JD(U), to
cross the 272-seat mark needed to form the government.
On Friday, the elected MPs
voted Mr Modi as the leader of the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the
parliament), leader of the BJP parliamentary party, and leader of the NDA.
It is not clear what
concessions his allies may have negotiated in return for their support. India
media report that several are seeking key ministerial posts.
The opposition INDIA alliance,
led by the Congress party, has called the election a mandate against Mr Modi's
government.
Mr Modi, however, countered
this on Friday, saying: "Opposition tried to paint 2024 Lok Sabha results
as a loss for us. But we didn’t lose, we never lost, we will never lose."
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