New Delhi: Indian lawmakers begin taking the oath of office on Monday with the opening of parliament after an election setback that forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to form a coalition government for the first time in a decade.
The first session, which will last until July 3, is expected to preview Modi’s plans for a third term and likely formally appoint Rahul Gandhi as leader of the opposition – a position that has been vacant since 2014.
Modi’s first two terms in office followed landslide victories for his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which allowed his government to introduce laws through parliament with only cursory debate.
But analysts now expect Modi, 73, to soften his Hindu-nationalist agenda to appease coalition partners, focusing more on infrastructure, social welfare and economic reforms.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju called for a “peaceful and productive” meeting on Monday, but Indian media reported they expected a lively debate with a much stronger opposition.
“Everything is ready for sparring,” we read in one of the headlines in the Hindustan Times on Monday.
“A resurgent opposition ready to put pressure on the government,” added the front page of the Indian Express.
Rahul Gandhi, 54, defied analysts’ expectations that his Congress party would almost double its number of MPs, its best result since Modi came to power a decade ago.
Gandhi is the scion of a dynasty that dominated Indian politics for decades and is the son, grandson and great-grandson of former prime ministers, starting with independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru.
Parliament rules require that the leader of the opposition come from a party that has at least 10 percent of the vote. legislators in the 543-seat lower house.
The position had been vacant for 10 years because two disastrous election results for Congress – India’s once dominant party – kept it under that threshold.
The parliament session will begin for the first two days after the newly elected MPs take the oath.
Many will be watching to see if they are joined by two lawmakers elected from behind bars who are bitter opponents of Modi.
One of them is Sikh separatist Amritpal Singh, a fire-starting preacher who was arrested last year after a month-long police raid in the state of Punjab.
The second is Sheikh Abdul Rashid, a former state legislator in Indian-administered Kashmir.
It is unclear whether any of them will be released on bail to attend the ceremony in person.
Modi’s decade as prime minister has cemented his image as an aggressive champion of the country’s Hindu majority, troubling minorities, including the country’s more than 200 million Muslim community.
However, his BJP won just 240 seats in this year’s poll, 32 seats shy of a majority in the lower house, its worst result in a decade.
This has left the BJP dependent on a diverse assortment of smaller parties to govern.
Modi has left key positions in this government unchanged, and the cabinet remains dominated by the BJP.
They include BJP loyalists Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S. Jaishankar – the ministers of defence, home, transport, finance and external affairs, who remain in their posts.
However, of his 71-member government, 11 positions went to coalition allies who carved them out in exchange for support – including five in the 30 highest positions in the government.
Many people will also be watching the choice of speaker, the powerful position that oversees the operation of the lower house, with lawmakers voting on Wednesday.
Coalition allies covet the position, but others suggest Modi field a candidate from his BJP.