NEW DELHI _ Narendra Modi was sworn in once again as India's prime minister on Thursday alongside a slate of Cabinet ministers who need to arrest an economic slowdown and boost employment after receiving a resounding mandate in the country's election.
President Ram Nath Kovind presided over the evening ceremony in the forecourt of New Delhi's colonial-era presidential palace. It was one of the biggest-ever ceremonial events at the palace, and was attended by about 8,000 guests, including foreign dignitaries from neighboring countries, political leaders, business titans and celebrities.
Amit Shah, Modi's right-hand man as president of his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, was sworn in amid speculation he may be handed the finance portfolio after Arun Jaitley asked not to be considered on health grounds.
S. Jaishankar, a longtime Indian diplomat who was appointed to the foreign ministry's top post during Modi's first term, will also enter the Cabinet after a stint at Mumbai-based conglomerate Tata Sons Ltd. Rajnath Singh _ Home Minister in Modi's first term _ along with former roads minister Nitin Gadkari, and former defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman have also been sworn in by the president.
Modi, 68, becomes the country's first premier to be reelected with a majority since 1984. His Hindu nationalist BJP smashed exit poll predictions with a landslide victory. His BJP won 303 seats in 543-member lower house of parliament, enough for a single-party majority.
Now, he and his team face numerous economic challenges. They need to boost a slowing economy, fix the nation's ailing financial sector, generate millions of jobs for aspirational youth, reduce hardship among millions of impoverished farmers and continue pushing vast welfare programs for the poor. After his spectacular win, Modi pledged to build a "new India," and some analysts expect him to skip reforms to focus on immediate measures to boost employment and expand welfare benefits.
"Modi's priority, at least in the short run, will likely continue to be on infrastructure development and spending measures for farmers, rather than on major business reforms," said Akhil Bery, South Asia analyst at risk consultancy Eurasia Group. Modi received his mandate after vowing to push forward on welfare programs, such as village electrification and basic sanitation, he added. "Now, it is incumbent on Modi to deliver."
With 7% expansion in the year through March, India has held its crown as the world's fastest-growing major economy. But that's quickly changing this year as consumption _ which makes up 61% of India's gross domestic product _ weakens sharply, with ripple effects on new investments. He also has limited fiscal space to pay for promises like cash handouts to farmers and hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure spending.
On the political front, one question mark is how hard Modi and his party will push a pro-Hindu agenda, including politically sensitive moves such as scrapping Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which grants special concessions to the disputed state of Kashmir, or pushing to build a controversial Hindu temple on the site of a demolished mosque.
