NEW DELHI: India’s caretaker Prime Minister Narendra Modi has begun the process of forming a coalition government, launching swiftly into negotiations with key allies on Wednesday (June 5) after his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to gain a majority on its own in the tightly contested general election.
A meeting between Modi and alliance leaders was held at the prime minister’s residence, with talks centring on staking a claim to forming the next government.
Those in attendance included party leaders of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which won 292 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha or Lower House of Parliament after votes were tallied on June 4.
“We all unanimously choose respected NDA leader Narendra Modi as our leader,” a BJP-issued alliance statement said on June 5.
It said the NDA government would “preserve India’s heritage” and work for the “all-round development of the country”.
The opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (India) bloc, of which the Congress Party is a member, also held a meeting, and has said it would continue its fight against Modi.
Media reports said Modi would be sworn in along with his Cabinet colleagues by President Droupadi Murmu on June 8 in a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the president. However, there was no official confirmation as yet.
Ahead of the meeting, Modi – as part of the procedural formality for government formation – tendered his resignation, along with those of his Cabinet colleagues, to President Murmu, who asked him to carry on as caretaker in the interim, her office said on June 5.
Under the Indian system, the president will invite the party with the largest number of seats to form the government and preside over the swearing-in ceremony, after which the government can start work immediately.
Modi returned to power for a rare third term, but simultaneously suffered an electoral setback as his party failed to secure an outright majority for the first time since sweeping to power a decade ago.
The BJP won only 240 seats this time round, falling short of a simple majority on its own by 32 seats, thus increasing its reliance on its regional allies.
In the Lok Sabha, 272 is the overall majority for a party to form the government on its own. The BJP had aimed to win 370 seats in this election.
Prior to this, the BJP had garnered a majority on its own, winning 282 and 303 seats in the 2014 and 2019 polls respectively, allowing Mr Modi to govern pretty much on his own without the interference of others all this while.
Modi will now have to compromise and take into account the sentiments of principal allies like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, and Janata Dal (United), or JDU, from the eastern Bihar state, to run his coalition government.
With the two parties alone accounting for 28 seats, TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu and JDU leader Nitish Kumar have both been dubbed “kingmakers” by the local media and hold the fate of the alliance in their hands.
Negotiations going forward with the key allies will centre on who gets which Cabinet berths in return for their support, possibly financial perks or benefits for their states, upon which their political power is based.
Both Naidu and Kumar have for a long time been seeking special status for their respective states, which would translate into more federal funding, in addition to fiscal and tax benefits.
The opposition India bloc won 233 seats in the election, which analysts say is not enough to stake a claim to forming the next government.
But the results nevertheless signal a resurgence of the opposition, which had put up a poor showing in the previous two elections in the face of the seemingly unstoppable BJP juggernaut.
Modi would have to build a working relationship with the opposition too for the smooth running of parliamentary sessions, the analysts noted.
“He (Modi) will have to handle regional players, and he will have to reach out to the opposition. It is such a strong opposition. Whether Modi will have to stoop to conquer remains to be seen. It is a very different third term than expected,” political analyst Neerja Chowdhury told The Straits Times.
There has been much speculation that the opposition alliance would try to woo the JDU and TDP to its fold, but analysts pointed out that even then, the India bloc would not be able to muster a majority.
Still, the bloc looks set to maintain pressure on Modi.
“We will take appropriate steps at (an) appropriate time to realise people’s desire not to be ruled by the BJP government,” said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, without elaborating further, following a meeting of the opposition alliance.
The Congress has seen a revival in this election after back-to-back devastating defeats in previous elections.
The party on its own won 99 seats this time, nearly double the 52 seats in 2019.
Following the opposition’s revival in the latest polls, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra penned an emotional post to her older brother and party leader Rahul Gandhi, who has often been the target of intense trolling, including by BJP leaders, as being nothing more than a product of nepotism.
“You fought with love, truth and kindness in your heart. Those who could not see you, see you now, but some of us have always seen and known you to be the bravest of all,” she wrote on social platform X.
“I am proud to be your sister,” she tweeted.
The siblings are part of the Gandhi family, a political dynasty that has given India three prime ministers.
Looking ahead, political analyst Arati R. Jerath said that the opposition would continue to put pressure on Modi’s new government.
“I think they are just keeping the pot boiling,” she said, adding they were buoyed by the numbers and had emerged as a strong opposition. – The Straits Times/ANN
