Before the elections, when the right-wing BJP claimed to have won a majority, many minorities, including the Muslim population of over 20 crore, were worried.
During Modi's decade as prime minister, he has cultivated an image as an aggressive supporter of the country's majority Hindu religion.
His government revoked the constitutional autonomy of India's Muslim-majority region of Kashmir, and supported the construction of a temple at the site where a mosque had stood centuries ago before being demolished by Hindu radicals in 1992.
Critics fear that if the BJP wins another landslide victory, policies would be passed in parliament that would further blur the lines between state and religion — India’s secular constitution notwithstanding.
But analysts say the alliance forces Modi to tread more cautiously.
“In a government with allies, the BJP's core cultural agenda will fade into the background,” Nistula Hebbar, political editor of The Hindu newspaper, told AFP.
Instead, Modi is expected to focus on infrastructure, foreign affairs and economic reforms, which “will not be a major issue” for the alliance, he said.
“Very broadly, economic policy and external strategy do not face any challenge in continuity, or any serious philosophical or strategic challenge with either allies or opposition parties,” Malik said.