The mandate delivered by the Indian public during this Lok Sabha election will be remembered for many years in Indian political history. The National Democratic coalition, led by the BJP, got 292 seats, 20 more than the majority mark of 272, while the opposition INDIA coalition got 234 seats, 38 away from the majority. For the first time since 2014, the BJP was unable to secure a majority on its own. The BJP got 240 seats, far fewer than the record 303 seats it won five years ago. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take oath for the third time on June 9 and for that, he will have to depend on the support of his NDA allies.
However, it is interesting to note that PM Modi has secured a hat trick by winning for the third consecutive time since the year 2014. He is set to equal Jawaharlal Nehru’s record of taking oath for the third consecutive time as PM.
This is the first time since 1962 that a party at the Centre that has served two full five-year mandates will form its third straight government. The BJP’s seat count may have decreased, but its vote percentage remained almost the same as in 2014 and 2019. Further, the main opposition Congress party won only 99 seats and yet celebrated calling it a ‘victory’.
Interestingly, the BJP has also become the only party to secure more than 232 seats on its own since the year 1989. Congress, in the year 1989, won 197 seats and 232 in the year 1991. In the next 3 elections, BJP under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee emerged as the single largest party, winning 161 seats in the 1996 elections, and 182 each in 1998 and 1999 elections.
In the year 2004, again Congress won the maximum number of seats- 145, and the party won 206 in 2009 resulting in the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for 10 consecutive years. However, in the year 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rose to power with the party winning 282 seats in 2014, returned to power by winning 303 in the year 2019, and has once again emerged as the single largest party by winning 240 seats in the year 2024. These numbers indicate that the BJP has been the only party in the last 35 years that has secured more than 232, the maximum secured by the Congress during the 1991 elections.
Though the BJP’s seat count has decreased, the NDA alliance may easily establish a coalition government. Two or three points should not be missed in the clamor about the poll results- One, the BJP won nearly all of the seats in several states like Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh.
Another significant aspect is that the BJP will establish a government in Odisha for the first time, ending Naveen Patnaik’s 25-year tenure. It also surged to power in Arunachal Pradesh on Monday and will now share power with the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh. The finest outcome of this election is that neither party has expressed any concerns about tampering with electronic voting machines.
Notably, Narendra Modi is expected to take oath as Prime Minister for the third time on Sunday, June 9, at 6 pm. Earlier, it was stated that Modi is set to swear in on June 8 (Saturday). On Wednesday, Modi resigned and submitted a letter to President Murmu, who accepted his resignation and encouraged him to stay in his position until the new government took office.
Several world leaders, including Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, and Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth, are expected to attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony.
The oath-taking ceremony will take place at Rashtrapati Bhavan.