This will be Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's third term as Brazil’s President

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on winning the presidential elections in Brazil.

Taking to Twitter, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) wrote on Monday, "Congratulations to @LulaOficial on winning the Presidential elections in Brazil. I look forward to working closely together to further deepen and widen our bilateral relations, as also our cooperation on global issues: PM"

After narrowly defeating current president Jair Bolsonaro in a fierce election on Sunday, Lula da Silva of Brazil was elected as the new leader of the nation. He is expected to take the oath as Brazil's new President on January 1.

This was the closest election in the nation in over three decades. With 99.5% of the ballots collected, a little over 2 million votes separated the two contenders.

In a hotly contested run-off election on Sunday, Lula won with 50.83% of the vote, while Bolsonaro received 49.17%. Significantly, more than 156 million individuals were eligible to vote in this year's elections.

It is a startling turnabout for da Silva, 77, who was sidelined in the 2018 election that propelled Bolsonaro - a supporter of conservative social ideals - to power following his incarceration due to a corruption scandal.

After being imprisoned for 580 days due to a slew of corruption charges, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions, paving the way for him to run for office again.

His victory signals the left's return to power in Brazil and caps a victorious personal comeback for Lula da Silva.

This will be his third tenure in office after already governing Brazil for two terms in a row between 2003 and 2010.