PM Narendra Modi equals record feat of 3rd straight term as challenges await

Prime Minister Narendra Modi created history on Sunday, June 9, as he took oath for a third straight term in office, becoming the first non-Congress leader and second after Jawaharlal Nehru to achieve this milestone. 

Although his third term did not come with a massive win, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a tally of 240 Lok Sabha seats, which was the third best for the party, while the Indian National Congress (INC) bagged 99 seats in the House of the People.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has won 293 seats, which Modi has noted is the biggest success for any pre-poll alliance when a single party did not get a majority. 

At the age of 73, Narendra Modi remains the center of Indian politics for the upcoming years. He entered electoral politics for the first time as Gujarat chief minister in 2001.

Modi has never looked back since taking the BJP's lead for the first time in the 2002 Gujarat assembly elections, which were held in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning tragedy. 

He has completely transformed the politics of the state and its themes, something that very few politicians have done before him.

Even if in 2002 his critics had written him off politically, he has since grown stronger and more successful in combining Hindutva with progressivism for his party. 

He has been standing as a rock with his party since 2002, 2007, and 2012 in Gujarat, and then in 2014 and 2019 at the Centre. It is evident that the party is facing the strongest opposition this time as compared to the past two elections. 

Majorly, the critics have questioned the party's ability due to the defeat in Uttar Pradesh, where the SP-Congress alliance has won this time, and in many other states. 

In times of so many uncertainties, Modi also stood up like a true leader and did not let any of this affect the party's image. BJP leaders have noted that the BJP's nearly flawless performance in the Odisha Lok Sabha elections, along with its first-ever majority in the assembly, doubled its number of MPs in Telangana, and marked its first-ever entry into Kerala, highlights the appeal's enduring power.

With experienced and dependable advisors at his side, the BJP is optimistic that Modi will prove his critics wrong and continue to drive the party's growth both horizontally and vertically with his creative policies and fresh political concepts that uphold the fundamentals of Hindutva, development, and welfarism. 

As he assumes office for a third term, his abilities will be put to the test in a different round of elections, this time in the form of assembly polls in the two states where the BJP has struggled, Haryana and Maharashtra, where contests are scheduled for October.