Indian voters have unveiled their verdict. After a long-drawn Lok Sabha election in the midst of scorching heat, the results were released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday (4 June).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely expected to form the government at the Centre for a third term. However, it is relying on its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners, especially Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar, to come back to power this time.
While the possibility of the INDIA bloc forming the new Central government seems far-fetched as of now, the Opposition grouping has made enough gains for it to erupt in cheer. The Congress-led alliance bagged 232 seats, an unexpected performance that exit polls failed to predict.
Both the NDA and INDIA blocs will be holding important meetings with their respective allies on Wednesday (5 June) to discuss results and the government formation.
TDP chief Naidu and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar are expected to be in New Delhi for the NDA meeting. Both parties have assured they will stick to the BJP-led alliance.
Although there are high chances of the saffron party’s return to power, the results have been bittersweet for the BJP. We will delve into the reasons why.
Why BJP should celebrate
Besides a third tenure for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the making as NDA bagged 293 seats, the BJP also emerged as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 240 of the 543 constituencies.
The TDP won 16, the JD(U) 12, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena got seven, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) five and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of Ajit Pawar one. Other NDA allies grabbed the remaining 12 seats.
The saffron party also romped home in Odisha, trouncing the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) whose leader Naveen Patnaik was in power in the state since 2000. In the Odisha Assembly elections held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls, the saffron party claimed 78 out of the 147 seats, followed by the BJD which won 51 seats.
The Congress managed to secure 14 seats, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) one and the Independents three.
The BJP also clinched 20 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state, leaving one for the Congress.
PM Modi in his speech on Tuesday thanked the people of Odisha for giving a big mandate to the BJP for the first time “in the land of Lord Jagannath”, reported Indian Express.
The BJP also had a clean sweep in several states including Madhya Pradesh (29 seats), Delhi (seven seats), Uttarakhand (five seats), Himachal Pradesh (four seats) and Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh (two seats each).
In Chhattisgarh, the saffron party bagged 10 out of the 11 seats, with Congress’ Jyotsna Charandas Mahant winning from the Korba seat. The BJP also opened its account in Kerala for the first time, winning a lone seat.
It also doubled its tally from four to eight in Telangana.
The saffron party is slated to be part of the government in Andhra Pradesh. The BJP won eight seats in the Assembly polls, while its allies TDP got 135 out of 175 seats and Pawan Kalyan’s Janasena Party secured another 21.
In the Andhra Pradesh Lok Sabha elections, 16 TDP MPs have been elected, four from
Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), three from the BJP and two from the Janasena Party.
ALSO READ: Lok Sabha election results 2024: From Amethi to Nanded, key seats BJP is losing to INDIA bloc
Why Lok Sabha results should worry BJP
The BJP, which had set a lofty goal of 370 seats for itself and ‘400 paar’ for NDA, was in for a big surprise as results started pouring in.
The saffron party fell short of reaching the majority on its own, and the NDA is nowhere close to the 400-figure.
The BJP’s electoral campaign revolved around this ‘abki baar 400 paar’ goal, believing the ‘Modi magic’ would propel it to power with a brute majority. However, it seems the saffron party could not capture the public’s imagination, especially in the key state of Uttar Pradesh, where it has maintained dominance since 2014.
From media to political analysts, the results from the Hindi belt state stumped many. In UP, the Congress-Samajwadi Party (SP) combine trumped the NDA partners. Akhilesh Yadav’s party alone won 37 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats, followed by the BJP’s 33 seats.
The saffron party had got 62 seats in 2019 and 71 seats in 2014 in the state.
The Congress improved its tally from one seat in 2019 to six this time. NDA partners Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Apna Dal (Soneylal) bagged two and one seat respectively.
Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) candidate Chandrashekhar Azad won from the Nagina seat in UP.
The loss in UP would sting the BJP more as the party lost the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency, which includes Ayodhya where the newly-built Ram Temple was inaugurated this January.
According to the Economic Times (ET), inflation, high unemployment and the Agniveer scheme could have dented the BJP’s poll prospects. This was especially visible in Rajasthan and Haryana, the two states sending a significant number of youths to the defence forces and the paramilitary.
Gujarat also sprung a surprise, with the Congress’ Geniben Thakor defeating the BJP candidate to bag the Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat. With this, she broke the Grand Old Party’s decade-long dry spell in the Lok Sabha elections in PM Modi and Amit Shah’s home state.
The BJP also faced setbacks in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The western state’s results call for reflection for the ruling Mahayuti, consisting of the BJP, Ajit Pawar’s NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, as the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dominated the Lok Sabha polls.
Maharashtra is a crucial state that is slated to go to polls later this year. Assembly elections are also due in Haryana in a few months.
Despite a massive push, the saffron party could not make significant inroads in the south. It did not win any seats in Tamil Nadu, a state which was its centre of focus this time. However, the BJP can take heart as it surpassed the 11 per cent mark compared to 3.62 per cent vote share last time.
West Bengal results should also be a cause of concern for the saffron party as it reduced its tally from 18 to 12 in the eastern state. Exit polls had forecast the BJP trouncing the Mamata Banerjee’s TMC in the state to clinch the most seats. However, the results proved the predictions wrong.
The BJP drew a blank in Punjab, where it had won two seats in 2019. In Bihar, the BJP’s seats decreased from 17 to 12.
The saffron party, which won 303 seats in 2019, is down 63 seats this time. Its leadership needs to seriously ponder what went wrong.
With inputs from agencies
 "From G20 to Vaccine Maitri, how India's foreign policy remain at the pinnacle of BJP's 2024 campaign")
 "What does Modi 3.0 coalition government mean for economic reforms?")
 "Lok Sabha election results 2024: What Modi’s win means for Asia and the world")
 "From Smriti Irani to Omar Abdullah, the big losers of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections")