Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take oath for a third time on Saturday, and in so doing, become the first (and only) three-term leader of the country since Congress stalwart Jawaharlal Nehru.

Modi met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi to submit his resignation, and that of his cabinet.

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party - which claimed 282 seats in 2014 and 303 in the 2019 election won 240 seats this time - 32 short of the 272-majority mark. It will now rely on the 53 seats won by members of the party-led National Democratic Alliance to seal a third term, NDTV reported.

Modi retained his Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, defeating the Congress' Ajay Rai by less than 1.5 lakh votes to become a three-time MP from the temple town.

bd-pratidin/GR