Bharat Bhagya Vidhata: India Crowns its Prime Minister
Shri Narendra Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India for the third successive time, a feat accomplished only by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Having secured the numbers, this government will be a coalition government of the NDA, with the Naidu led TDP and Nitish Kumars Janta Dal being the two major partners of the BJP in this coalition.
The BJP could not repeat its magic of the last two elections and failed to get a majority on its own. This time the government is a coalition government of the NDA and no longer a BJP government, though the majorty of the Ministers are of the BJP.
The elections to the Lok Sabha 2024, as per some commentators were identified as one of the most unfair in the Indian Republic. Despite this the I.N.D.I.A bloc led by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav, challenged the ruling party at the Centre, across the country. Even after the candidates of the parties forming the I.N.D.I.A bloc were allegedly intimidated over the last few years by the ruling party at the Centre, with their bank accounts being blocked as well, they came back strongly. Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav came across as formidable challengers to the apparently false positive aura created by the BJP around its Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his "400 paar" narrative. The advantage that the ruling party had over the others was very obvious - be it finance. administration, media or even the 'autonomous' institutions. Despite all of these the I.N.D.I.A bloc managed to cause damage.
BJP won 240 seats and could not secure a single party majority in the 543 seat 18th Lok Sabha. Its tally in the last elections was 303 seats. The drop of 63 seats was significant 20.79%. Its closest challenger, the Indian National Congress, came back with vengeance to secure 99 seats, a 90% jump from its previous tally of 52 in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's performance is poetic justice. The Indian National Congress wrested 42 seats from the BJP, while the BJP could only capture 7 seats held by the Congress from the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has not been vanquished, but it there were some checks on fair playing ground in the run up to the elections, they might well have been sitting on the side they were, pre 2014.
BJP 240 Seat breakup is as follows:
- 204 retained from (303) in 2019 (67% retained)
- 11 seats won from BJD in Odisha
- 7 seats won from the Congress, 1 each in HP, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Telangana, Andaman & Chhatisgarh.
- 4 seats of new constituencies established in 2023 in Assam
- 3 seats won from TRS in Telangana
- 3 seats won from Shiv Sena
- 3 seats won from YSRCP in Andhra
- 2 seats won from AITC in West Bengal
- 1 seat won from BSP in UP
- 1 seat won from NCP in Maharashtra
- 1 seat won from LJP, Bihar
Congress 99 Seat breakup is as follows:
- 34 Seats Retained from (52) in 2019 (65% retained)
- 42 Seats Won from BJP (1 each Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Manipur, Punjab; 2 Jharkhand; 5 Haryana; 4 UP; 8 Karnataka & Rajasthan; 9 Maharashtra);
- 6 Seats won from BRS in Telangana
- 3 Seats won from DMK in Tamil Nadu
- 2 Seats won from Shiv Sena in Maharashtra
- 1 Seat won from CPI(M) in Kerala
- 1 Seat won from AAP in Punjab
- 1 Seat won from AIUDF in Assam
- 1 Seat won from BSP in Uttar Pradesh
- 1 Seat won from Independent in Maharashtra
- 1 Seat won from JD(S) in Karnataka
- 1 Seat won from JD(U) in Bihar
- 1 Seat won from NPF in Manipur
- 1 Seat won from NPP in Meghalaya
- 1 Seat won from NCP in Lakshadweep
- 1 Seat won from NDPP in Nagaland
- 1 Seat won from SAD in Punjab
The number shift speaks of the mandate of the voters... Bharat Bhagya Vidhata...