In India's general election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party lost its absolute majority in parliament for the first time in ten years.
The BJP is securing itself 240 of 543 seats are up for election, as election commission data showed after all votes were counted on Wednesday. But it remains the strongest force. According to local media analysis, the BJP and its coalition partners won 292 seats.
For Just forming a government is enough. Modi is expected to become his country's second leader to rule for three consecutive terms, after India's first post-independence prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Accident since 2019
In the previous election in 2019, the BJP won 303 seats – far more than the 272-seat majority needed to rule. Together with its allies, the party won 353 seats five years ago, a majority. Before this election, Modi had set a goal of expanding his majority to more than 400 seats. However, this extraordinary victory failed to materialize.
The opposition doubled the seats
In contrast, the opposition camp under the leadership of the Congress Party made surprising gains. The Congress party gained almost double the number of seats compared to the previous election in 2019 – from 52 to 99 seats – and remained the second strongest force. According to local media, their opposition alliance won 234 seats.
The election in the world's most populous democracy lasted more than six weeks. Nearly a billion people are eligible to vote – more than the populations of the European Union and the United States combined. More than 8,000 candidates took part.
