NEW DELHI — India's Narendra Modi was preparing to be sworn in for a third term as prime minister on Thursday after an unexpectedly close election that forced his party into a coalition government.

Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which ruled for the past decade with an outright majority, had been expecting another landslide win.

But results of the six-week election, released on Tuesday, ran counter to exit polls, seeing the BJP lose its majority and sending it into quick-fire talks to lock in a 15-member coalition that would allow it to govern.

That grouping — the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) — announced on Wednesday night that they had agreed to form a government.

"We all unanimously choose respected NDA leader Narendra Modi as our leader," a BJP-issued alliance statement said.

The alliance holds 293 seats in parliament, giving it control of the 543-seat body.

Indian media reports said Modi would be sworn in as premier on Saturday.

Modi's new reliance on "the minefield of coalition politics" means he faces the prospect of a far tougher-than-expected third term, the Hindustan Times warned in its Thursday editorial.

"Consensus building will have to be the bedrock of governance," it added, noting that the right-wing BJP would have to "recalibrate its expansion plans."

'New chapter of development'

While Modi faces a more complicated political environment at home, he won the plaudits of leaders around the world.

United States President Joe Biden congratulated Modi on his coalition's victory, and the State Department said Washington hoped to work with the Hindu nationalist leader on a "free and open" Asia.

"The friendship between our nations is only growing," Biden wrote, while French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated his "dear friend."

China also congratulated Modi, saying it was "ready to work" with its neighbor, while the coalition's win was also applauded by the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan and Russia.

Modi, 73, insisted on Tuesday night that the election results were a victory that ensured he would continue his agenda.

"Our third term will be one of big decisions and the country will write a new chapter of development," Modi told a crowd of cheering supporters in the capital New Delhi after his win. "This is Modi's guarantee."

'Play the coalition game'

Commentators and exit polls had projected an overwhelming victory for Modi, whom critics have accused of leading the jailing of opposition figures and trampling on the rights of India's 200-million-plus Muslim community.

But the BJP secured 240 seats in parliament, well below the 303 won five years ago and 32 short of a majority on its own.

The main opposition party Indian National Congress won 99 seats in a remarkable turnaround, almost doubling its 2019 tally of 52.

"Today's masters are not as strong as they were," Christophe Jaffrelot, a professor at King's College London, wrote in The Hindu daily on Thursday. "For the first time in his political career, Narendra Modi will have to play the coalition game."

Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge said the result was a vote against Modi "and the substance and style of his politics."

"It is a huge political loss for him personally, apart from being a clear moral defeat as well," he told party leaders at an opposition alliance meeting.

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