The 2024 elections saw a remarkable voter turnout, with a significant portion of the electorate showing continued confidence in Narendra Modi’s leadership and vision for the country for the record third time
New Delhi: Ten years back, the Narendra Modi tsunami left the Congress battered and reduced to its lowest tally of 44 seats in the Lok Sabha. In 2024, his magic continued and he was sworn-in as India’s Prime Minister for the third time on June 9, following another decisive victory in the 2024 Parliamentary elections which further solidified his leadership.
In his victory speech, Modi 4 hailed the people for reposing their faith in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the third time. Stressing this is the mandate for "Viksit Bharat". PM Modi said "this is the victory of 140 crore Indians."
The PM highlighted that this is the first time after 1962 that a government after completing two terms has returned to power for the third consecutive time. He also praised the Election Commission (EC) for successfully conducting the elections, saying 100 crore voters, 11 lakh polling stations, 1.5 crore poll officials, 50 lakh EVMs and everyone performed their duty in such heat and security personnel performed exemplary well.
The BJP won 240 seats, down from the 303 it had secured in 2019, and lost its singular majority in the Lok Sabha, although the NDA overall secured 293 of the house's 543 seats. The INDIA coalition outperformed expectations, securing 234 seats, 99 of which were won by the Congress, garnering the party the official opposition status for the first time in 10 years. Seven independents and 10 candidates from non-aligned parties also won seats in the Lok Sabha.
Modi’s third term is expected to build on the foundations laid during his previous tenures, with a renewed emphasis on technological innovation, infrastructure development, and international diplomacy, further positioning India as a global powerhouse. The unprecedented third term underscores his enduring appeal and the trust placed in him by millions of Indians to lead the nation towards greater prosperity and stability.
Inspired by the motto of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’, Modi has ushered in a paradigm shift in governance that has led to inclusive, development-oriented and corruption-free governance. The Prime Minister has worked with speed and scale to realise the aim of Antyodaya, or ensuring last-mile delivery of schemes and services.
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(Photo courtesy: Press Information Bureau)
Leading international agencies have noted that under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, India has been eliminating poverty at record pace. According to the findings from NITI Aayog’s latest report ‘Multidimensional Poverty in India since 2005-06’, almost 25 crore people escaped multidimensional poverty in the last nine years. The credit for this remarkable achievement goes to significant initiatives of the government to address all dimensions of poverty.
Today, India is home to the world’s largest healthcare programme, Ayushman Bharat. Covering over 50 crore Indians, Ayushman Bharat provides top quality and affordable healthcare to the poor and neo-middle class.
Understanding that financial exclusion was a bane for the poor, the Prime Minister launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, that aimed at opening bank accounts for every Indian. Now, over 54 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened. These accounts have not only banked the unbanked but also opened the doors for other avenues of empowerment.
Going a step ahead of Jan Dhan, Shri Modi emphasised on Jan Suraksha, by giving insurance and pension cover to the most vulnerable sections of society. The JAM trinity (Jan Dhan- Aadhaar- Mobile) has led to elimination of middlemen and ensured transparency and speed, powered by technology.
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, launched in 2016 provides free cooking gas connections to the poor. It has proven to be a major game-changer in providing smoke-free kitchens to over 10 crore beneficiaries, most of whom are women. About 18,000 villages that were without electricity even after 70 long years of Independence have been electrified.
Modi believes that no Indian should be homeless and to realise this vision, over 4.2 crore houses were sanctioned under the PM Awas Yojana between 2014 and 2024. In June 2024, after assuming office for the third term, one of the first decisions of the Cabinet was to assist 3 crore additional rural and urban households for the construction of houses, underscoring Modi’s commitment to addressing the nation’s housing needs and ensuring dignity and a quality life for every citizen.
Agriculture is a sector that is very close to Narendra Modi. During the interim budget of 2019, the government announced a monetary incentive for farmers called the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. In almost three weeks, on February 24 2019, the scheme was launched and instalments have been paid regularly since then.
During the first Cabinet Meeting of PM Modi’s second term, it was decided to extend the PM Kisan benefits to all farmers, removing the 5 acre limit that was present earlier. As of June 2024, Modi released the 17th instalment of the PM-KISAN scheme at Varanasi, in which more than 9.2 crore farmers received the benefits amounting to over Rs 20,000 crore.
PM Modi launched the ‘Make in India’ initiative to turn India into an international manufacturing powerhouse. India has made significant strides in ‘Ease of Doing Business’, improving its ranking from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2019. The government rolled out the GST during a historic session of Parliament in 2017, which has realised the dream of ‘One Nation, One Tax.’
Meanwhile, Modi has been bestowed with 20 civilian honors to date, the latest one being Kuwait’s highest honor 'The Order of Mubarak Al Kabeer’.
PM Modi receiving Kuwait’s highest honor ‘The Order of Mubarak Al Kabeer’. He has been bestowed with 20 civilian honors to date. (Photo courtesy: Press Information Bureau)
Before Kuwait, Guyana, Dominica and Nigeria, PM Modi had been conferred highest civilian honors in Saudi Arabia (King Abdulaziz Sash, 2016), Afghanistan (State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan, 2016), Palestine (Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award, 2018), UAE (Order of Zayed Award, 2019), Russia (Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, 2019 - received by PM Modi in July 2024), Maldives (Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin, 2019), Bahrain (King Hamad Order of the Renaissance, 2019), US (Legion of Merit by the US Armed Forces in 2020), Bhutan (Order of the Druk Gyalpo, 2021) Papua New Guinea (Ebakl Award, 2023), Fiji (Companion of the Order of Fiji, 2023), Papua New Guinea (Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu, 2023), Egypt (Order of Nile, 2023), France (Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 2023), Greece (Grand Cross of the Order of Honour, 2023).
In addition to these highest civilian honors, PM Modi has received several prestigious awards from renowned global organisations.
