'Main Narendra Damodardas Modi...': PM Takes Oath For Record Third Term With His NDA Team

PM Narendra Modi Oath Ceremony: President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Narendra Modi who is back for a consecutive third term.

PM Narendra Modi Oath Ceremony: Narendra Modi took the oath of office as the Prime Minister of India for the third consecutive term on Sunday at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. President Droupadi Murmu administered him the oath of office. Several MPs from within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Janata Dal (United) (JDU), and other allies also took oath as the cabinet ministers. 

In an X post, PM Modi said, "Took oath as Prime Minister at the ceremony earlier this evening. I look forward to serving 140 crore Indians and working with the Council of Ministers to take India to new heights of progress."

Among the cabinet ministers who took oath included Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Piyush Goyal from the BJP. Chandrasekhar Pemmmasani and Kinarapu Ram Mohan Naidu from TDP while H.D. Kumaraswamy from JD(S) and Chirag Paswan from LJP-R were among other NDA allies that were sworn-in as Union cabinet ministers. 

The event was attended by leaders from neighbouring countries including Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan PM Tshering Togbay, and Nepal PM Pushp Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'. 

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, and Vice-President Of Seychelles, Ahmed Afif were among the leaders from the Indian Ocean region who attended the oath-taking ceremony.  

From the opposition camp, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was in attendance while Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said she would not attend the event.

The BJP-led NDA is back for a third term at the Centre, but unlike its two previous terms where it sweeped a clean majority, the saffron party was limited to 249 seats this time and had to rely on allies like TDP and JD(U). On the flip side, the opposition came back stronger in the election this year with Congress securing 99 seats while Samajwadi Party sweeped the key states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.   

Notably, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not secure a majority this time and is forming the government with the support of its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners. Consequently, some NDA allies will also get cabinet positions, leading to the exclusion of some key BJP leaders such as Smriti Irani and Rajeev Chandrashekar. Here is a list of those who will not be part of the Modi cabinet this time.