Modi-led coalition in India will need changes in both style and substance

When Mr Narendra Modi was

sworn in as India’s prime minister for the third time in a row

on June 9 – equalling the record of the country’s post-independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru decades ago – he also achieved what for him is another historic feat. For the first time in his political career, Mr Modi will rule as the head of a coalition.

Moreover, he will have to depend on two mercurial allies, the Telugu Desam Party of Mr Chandrababu Naidu and the Janata Dal (United) of Mr Nitish Kumar, both of whom are notorious for changing their political allegiances.