Relying on coalition partners, Modi is sworn in for a rare third term as India’s prime minister

By SHEIKH SAALIQ
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — Narendra Modi has been sworn in for a rare third consecutive term as India’s prime minister, relying on his coalition partners after his failed to win a parliamentary majority in a surprise outcome. Modi and his Cabinet took the oath of office, administered by President Droupadi Murmu, at India’s presidential palace in New Delhi on Sunday. The 73-year-old popular but polarizing leader is only the second Indian prime minister to retain power for a third term. His Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party failed to secure a majority to govern alone for the first time in a decade. However, Modi’s National Democratic Alliance coalition won enough seats to form a government.