(New Delhi) Narendra Modi will be inaugurated on Sunday for a third term at the head of the Indian government, after closer results than expected in the legislative elections which forced his party to negotiate with other parties to stay in power.

Indian President Droupadi Murmu will “take oath of office from the Prime Minister and other members of the Union Council of Ministers on June 9, 2024 at 7:15 p.m. (9:45 a.m. Eastern Time),” the Presidency announced in a press release released Friday evening.

“I am very lucky that you elected me as head of the NDA (the National Democratic Alliance, which brings together 15 parties, editor’s note), with total consensus,” had previously declared Narendra Modi during a meeting in Parliament bringing together nearly 300 deputies from this coalition on Friday.

“A majority is essential to run the country, it is the very essence of democracy. But, to lead a country, consensus is also essential,” he had added.

The National Democratic Alliance had already announced at the end of the day on Wednesday an agreement to form a government and to have “unanimously chosen the respected leader” of 73 years as “leader”.

With 293 of the 543 seats in Parliament, the NDA holds an absolute majority.

“I thank the people for giving the NDA government a third chance to serve them,” Mr Modi said on Friday. “This is an opportunity and an expression of the will of the people and I thank them wholeheartedly for this opportunity,” he added.

Previously, he had thanked the deputies of his coalition for having unanimously supported his reappointment in office. This meeting was only a formality, the leaders of these parties having already expressed their support earlier this week.

It was also an opportunity to display the harmony between Mr. Modi and his new partners within the government.

His party, the BJP, has not revealed what concessions were made to other members of the alliance to ensure their support, but several major parties have notably sought to obtain important ministerial portfolios.

For Chandrababu Naidu, at the head of the most important of them, the Telugu Desam (TDP), “today, India has the right leader at the right time, that is to say Narendra Modi”, while that leaders of other formations adorned the latter with a garland of purple flowers.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has governed for the past ten years with an absolute majority, was expecting another landslide victory.  

But results released Tuesday from a six-week vote showed he no longer had such a majority, forcing him to negotiate with a group of 15 parties to obtain the number of parliamentarians needed to govern .  

Mr. Modi’s dependence on a coalition means his third term could prove much more difficult than expected, the Indian press noted.

According to the Indian Express newspaper on Friday, the Telugu Desam, which holds 16 seats, is pushing to relaunch a project to build a new capital in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

The Janata Dal (United) in the state of Bihar, another ally, has called for a review of a controversial military recruitment program that the government had designed in 2022 to reduce military spending.

Despite the unity displayed by the members of the coalition, these new alliances could be a source of friction in the future, political analyst Zoya Hasan of Jawaharlal Nehru University told AFP.  

TDP president “Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar (head of Janata Dal) are both cunning politicians. In a way, Modi could therefore find suitable partners in them,” said Ms. Hasan.

On Tuesday, as his supporters celebrated across the country, Modi said the election results would allow him to pursue his agenda.

“This third term will be one of big decisions. The country will write a new chapter in its development. I guarantee it,” he exclaimed to a cheering crowd in the capital, New Delhi.

Commentators had predicted a landslide victory for Mr. Modi, accused by his critics of jailing opposition figures and trampling on the rights of India’s Muslim community, which numbers more than 200 million people .  

But the BJP got 240 seats in Parliament, far fewer than the 303 it won five years ago.