The Exit Polls had suggested that the BJP and
NDA
would have a cakewalk in the
2024 Lok Sabha Election
, but it was anything but. At the time of writing, the NDA has reached 295 seats. While the BJP has a total of 243 (winning/leading) so far, its allies have helped it get past the 282-majority mark with a little help from allies TDP (16) and JD(U). Here’s how various publications covered the final result:
1) The Guardian: Modi set to win third term but may fall short of landslide victory
A piece in The Guardian read: “India’s prime minister,
Narendra Modi
, looks set to win a third term in power but early election results indicated he had not achieved the landslide victory that many had predicted.”
The paper notes how BJP was set to lose almost 70 seats, a distinct departure from the two-thirds majority that many exit polls had predicted over the weekend.
It added: “Meanwhile, the opposition alliance, which goes by the acronym India, appeared to far outperform expectations, collectively winning 234 seats, according to the early count. 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, who has been in power since 2014.”
Speaking about the INDIA bloc, article noted: “But the India coalition proved more resilient than many analysts had expected and was boosted by strong performances by regional parties such as the Samajwadi party in Uttar Pradesh, the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party in Tamil Nadu.”
2) Washington Post: India’s early election results point to rebuke for Modi and his party
Meanwhile WaPo wrote that the result had delivered an ‘unexpected repudiation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’ claiming there was ‘tepid support for his Hindu nationalist party, piercing the air of invincibility around the most dominant Indian politician in decades’.
The piece further read: “Such a result would be a rare setback for an Indian politician who has never failed to secure a majority in state or national elections over a 23-year political career and cultivated an image as a popular strongman and a serial winner. Most analysts expected him to easily brush aside India’s enervated and poorly funded opposition parties, some of which had their bank accounts frozen, and their leaders jailed by the government in the run-up to the election.”
3) The Times: Modi’s Party May Need Partners to Form a Government
While noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was still likely to form the government, the NYT notes that his poorer performance will have “political ramifications”. A report stated: “At a minimum, the B.J.P. will have to depend more on the junior members of its existing multiparty alliance. Two of the most prominent parties do not share Mr. Modi’s Hindu-first agenda. And if the governing alliance does not win a majority, the B.J.P. will be able to form a government only by adding new partners. It may not come to that. As of Tuesday afternoon the alliance was on track to scrape by with a narrow parliamentary majority — far short of its target of 400 seats, but enough to stay in power with its existing members.”
4) WSJ: Indian Stocks Drop After Early Election Results Point to Tighter Win for Modi
The Wall Street Journal meanwhile focussed on Indian stocks falling which they attributed to “damping expectations for business-friendly reforms”. The piece notes: “The benchmark BSE Sensex index closed 5.5% lower, its largest one-day percentage decline in over four years. It fell as much as 8% earlier in the session. Banking, power and industrial stocks were among the worst hit. Shares in State Bank of India fell 14%; Tata Steel dropped nearly 9%. The rupee weakened about 0.5% against the U.S. dollar.”
5) FT: Narendra Modi on course for India election win with weakened mandate
Noting that the result was poorer than expected, Financial Times stated that it would be a return to ‘coalition politics’. The report stated: “If the numbers don’t change, it’s a return of alliance politics that had characterised India from 1989 to 2014. In that sense, it will have to be a much more negotiated government. I’m not sure how much business will like it.”
The report further added: “Many Indians had expected a clear Modi victory in an election seen as a referendum on his decade in office and following a campaign focused largely on the personality of the 73-year-old prime minister. A victory would make him India’s first PM to serve three consecutive terms since independence leader
Jawaharlal Nehru
.”
