Modi, Striking a Modest Tone, to Be Sworn In for a Third Term

As a humbled Narendra Modi prepared to take the oath for a third term as India’s prime minister on Sunday, the political air in New Delhi appeared transformed.

The election that ended last week stripped Mr. Modi of his parliamentary majority and forced him to turn to a diverse set of coalition partners to stay in power. Now, these other parties are enjoying something that for years was singularly Mr. Modi’s: relevance and the spotlight.

Their leaders have been swarmed by TV crews while on their way to present demands and policy opinions to Mr. Modi. His opponents, too, have been getting more airtime, with stations cutting live to their news conferences, something almost unheard-of in recent years.

Above all, the change can be seen in Mr. Modi himself. For now, at least, the messianic air is gone. He pitches himself as the modest administrator that voters showed they wanted.

To many, Mr. Modi’s shift in approach can only mean good things for the country’s democracy — a move toward moderation in a hugely diverse nation that was being whipped into a Hindu-first monolith in the image of one man.

The question is whether Mr. Modi can truly become something he has not been during his two-plus decades in elected office: a consensus builder.