New Delhi – Narendra Modi secured a third term as India’s prime minister following hard-fought elections involving nearly one billion voters determined to shape history in the world’s largest democracy.
According to the Election Commission the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, secured 272 seats with only a handful of constituencies left to delcare, enough for a majority in the 543-seat parliament, results on the commission website showed.
Modi's swearing-in as prime minister will see the 73-year-old join the ranks of Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India’s first prime minister who served from 1947 to 1964.
Despite what the "shortfall," Modi attempted to energise his enthusiastic BJP supporters, who had hoped for a victory of "400-plus" seats after ten politically tumultuous years in office.
Speaking from @BJP4India HQ. https://t.co/x2neIsArbi
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 4, 2024
Modi’s vows
"Ten years ago, there was a mandate for change," Modi said, targeting the opposition coalition. "At that time, the country was in a depression and counted among the 'fragile five.'"
Referring to the 28-party INDIA Bloc, which secured or was leading in 232 seats in the elections that began on 1 April and concluded on Saturday, Modi noted, "INDIA Bloc did not win as many seats as the BJP alone did."
"In the last 10 years, we have lifted 250 million people out of poverty... We won't stop until poverty becomes a thing of the past," said Modi, who on Tuesday won from the sacred Hindu constituency of Varanasi with his lowest-ever margin of 152,513 votes.
VIDEO | Lok Sabha Election Results 2024: "I am very happy that I have won but much happier at the resounding slap that this country has given on Mr Modi's face. The BJP has pitched brothers against brothers and Hindus against Muslims and they have done the worst kind of divisive… pic.twitter.com/z9WRl12L4x
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 4, 2024
Analysts suggest that the BJP might need to rely more on smaller members of the NDA, as two of its key alliance parties do not align with Modi's Hindu-centric agenda.
Critics of Modi argue that unemployment, increasing food prices, and assaults on religious minorities have led to a decline in the BJP's popularity among significant sections of the population who fervently supported Modi in 2014 and 2019.
Indian Robin Hood
Rahul Gandhi, who was instrumental in forming the 28-party national opposition coalition earlier this year, launched an attack on Modi, accusing him of attempting to undermine democracy.
"This was a battle to safeguard the country's constitution, and we have emerged victorious," said the 53-year-old scion of the influential Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, which governed India for 55 years.
"The nation has expressed its disapproval of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah leading the country," he added, while also criticizing the media for conducting an anti-opposition campaign and spreading fake news.
Rahul Gandhi during the Election Campaign:
— The Analyzer (News Updates🗞️) (@Indian_Analyzer) June 4, 2024
"They (BJP) want to abolish Reservation. Congress party will increase the reservation by abolishing the 50% limit of Reservation".
~ Is this the reason behind the large consolidation of Dalit votes in favor of opposition?🤯 pic.twitter.com/pQA2JDRe98
Critics, international study groups and opposition entities also claim India’s mainstream news television networks, wire-services and other media outlets had been abused to to spread bias and that exit polls broadcast this week were a product of “paid fantasy.”
Gandhi, who was forced to give up his MP’s bungalow and stripped of his elected post in parliament by a court, attacked Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani and his alleged links with the BJP.
"The public directly related Modi and Adani. If Modi loses, the stock market says Modi is gone so Adani is gone. There is a direct relationship of corruption between them," he alleged.
"We fought this election against Bharatiya Janaty Party, Indian governance structure, probe agencies, judiciary and other public institutions, since these all had been captured by the Modi government," Gandhi told a party conclave.
Mallickarjun Kharge, president of the Congress party, labelled the poll result as a "huge moral defeat” for the BJP.
"The public knew that if Modi gets another chance, the constitution would be attacked," he warned.
Almost a billion people were involving in the staggered polls which was also in the spotlight after the courts exposed donor list revealing ties between companies and political parties.
