Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Narendra Modi will be sworn in as India’s prime minister on Sunday for a record third term.
A senior party leader said the ceremony would take place at 6pm local time (12.30GMT).
On Tuesday, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, won the general election with 293 seats.
The result was unexpected as the BJP did not win an absolute majority Just as multiple exit polls predicted.
That led to days of uncertainty over whether alliance partners would support Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party or enter talks with opposition groups to try to form a government.
But on Friday, National Democratic Alliance leaders unanimously backed Modi as leader of the alliance and as its candidate for prime minister.
At a meeting in the capital Delhi, Modi thanked his allies and said the National Development Alliance would make every effort to govern the country and move the country forward.
“The NDA has been completed for about thirty years [as an alliance], this is no ordinary thing. I can say this is the most successful league.
The BJP won 240 seats in the election, a few short of the 272 needed for a majority in India’s 543-member parliament.
However, the Telugu Democratic Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (JD(U)), the two main allies of the BJP, won 16 and 12 seats respectively in their respective states, easily pushing the NDA past the halfway mark.
Media reports earlier speculated that the opposition alliance, which won 234 seats, might approach the TDP and JD(U) to support the group and participate in its bid to form the government.
The BJP’s statement on Friday dispelled such speculation.
In the coming days, the alliance will announce the list of ministers and allocate key positions.
It will also be interesting to see what concessions might be made to regional parties, such as key ministries or financial benefits for their states, to keep them in the coalition.
Media reports suggest that TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu may demand special status for his state Andhra Pradesh in return for his support.
This status confers certain economic development benefits on the country.
In 2018, Mr Naidu left the NDA amid disagreements over the requirement. He rejoined the coalition just months before this year’s election.
His party has yet to make a formal statement on the demand.
Modi submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday and Parliament was dissolved, a formal step before the new prime minister and MPs are sworn in.
