Summary
Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) looks likely to lose its parliamentary majority, dealing an unexpected blow to the Indian prime minister as voters defied predictions of another landslide for the BJP. It is the first time since Modi was elected in 2014 that the BJP has not won a clear majority on its own.
Modi instead will be forced to negotiate with coalition partners in order to return to power. The BJP and its political allies, known as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), have enough seats to form a majority government to rule for the next five years and return Modi to office for a third term.
Modi, in a victory speech, insisted he had been given a mandate to lead again. “Our third term will be one of big decisions and the country will write a new chapter of development. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he told a crowd of cheering supporters in the capital, New Delhi.
BJP officials were insistent it would form the next government and denied any setback. “The NDA will form the government for the third time. Prime Minister Modi will be sworn in for the third time. Congress will sit in opposition for the third time,” said Jaiveer Shergill, a spokesperson for the BJP.
The opposition alliance, which goes by the acronym India, far outperformed expectations, despite grappling with state agencies freezing party funds and jailing opposition leaders in the buildup to the polls. The alliance, formed of more than 20 national and regional opposition parties, had come together for the first time in this election with the aim of defeating Modi.
The results were a particular triumph for the main opposition party and the BJP’s main rival, Indian National Congress, which dramatically lost the previous two elections to Modi and was facing questions about its future as a party. This time it appeared the Congress party had more than doubled its seats. “The country has said to Narendra Modi ’We don’t want you,’” key leader Rahul Gandhi told reporters.
Updated
Narendra Modi has claimed he has won a third term in office but projections show his party is unlikely to win an outright majority.
Nonetheless, India has placed its faith in the ruling coalition for a third consecutive time.
India’s prime minister said the country people “have expressed full confidence in BJP and NDA”, referring to the Bharatiya Janata party and its allies.
For the first time in a decade, Modi’s BJP failed to secure an overall majority of its own, figures from the election commission showed, meaning it would need to rely on its alliance partners.
Updated
