India after the election

Manmohan Singh sworn in as Prime Minister for second term

Article published on the 2009-05-22 Latest update 2009-05-22 14:21 TU

A sand sculpture of Manmohan Singh and a map of India on the banks of the Ganges river in the northern Indian city of Allahabad
(Photo: Reuters)

Manmohan Singh was sworn for a second term as India's Prime Minister on Friday, after the Congress party 262 seats in the 543-strong parliament in this month's election.

A fellow Sikh celebrates Singh's return to the premiership
(Photo: Reuters)

Singh read out his oath of office before President Pratibha Patil, followed by the 19 members of his coalition cabinet.

Singh's Congress party won more seats than it held in the last parliament but not enough to rule alone, leading to alliances with smaller parties, mostly regional-based ones. It now has a voting strength of 322.

A dispute over cabinet positions clouded the day, with Congress's biggest ally the DMK threatening to quit the alliance.

The DMK, a party based in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, demanded nine cabinet positions but Congress was only prepared to offer six. DMK leaders withdrew from the coalition and flew back to the state Tamil Nadu capital, Chennai, but they promise to support the government from outside.

During the election Congress promised poverty-alleviation, especially to the millions of rural poor and Singh campaigned on his image as a reliable laders capable of tackling the economic crisis.

Singh is the only Prime Minister to be returned to office after completing a full term, apart from Jawaharlal Nehru who led the country for nearly 20 years after independence.