Modi Set For Historic 3rd Term As PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.

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• NDA crosses the halfway mark, BJP short of majority on its own

• I.N.D.I.A makes dent in BJP bastions in Hindi heartland

The Bharatiya or Janata Party, whose candidates had contested in the name Modi, won of was ahead in 240 seats and will fall short of the 272 majority mark and need the support of allies in the party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for government formation, a far cry from the 303 and 282 seats it had won in 2019 and 2014 respectively to have a majority on its own.

With support from, BJP's key allies N Chandrababu Naidu's TDP and Nitish Kumar's JD(U), which were leading or winning 16 and 12 seats in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar respectively, and other alliance partners, the NDA appeared to be on course to bag around 290 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The TDP also swept the assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh dislodging YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSRCP.

Preparing to take office for a record equalling historic third term, Prime Minister Modi pledged to work with all states, regardless of the party in power, to build a developed India. India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had served three consecutive terms.

In his first speech after the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Modi laid out his vision for the third term saying it would be a tenure of big decisions and key emphasis would be on uprooting corruption.

It is the first time that 73-year-old Modi will be dependent on allies to be in the government since he came into politics.

"The fight against corruption is becoming tougher by the day. Corruption is being shamelessly glorified for political interest. In our third term, NDA will focus a lot on rooting out corruption of all kinds," Modi said.