Indian election results are a shocking blow to Modi

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party has suffered a devastating blow.
• Though Modi is claiming victory, his party is seeing major losses in the country’s general election.
• Some are touting his opposition’s unexpected leads as a win for democracy.

For a decade, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held a decisive grip on his country’s politics.

But as election results rolled in Tuesday, it appeared Modi’s grip may be slipping.

Modi, who leads India’s Bharatiya Janata Party, is claiming victory for a historic third term as the country’s prime minister. But even though Modi will hold on to his position, his party didn’t do as well as he’d predicted.

India wrapped up counting the votes in its general election, and Modi’s party lost its majority in Parliament. That’s a big blow to Modi, whose party was long expected to win a majority.

Now, he’ll have to gather enough allies to form a government.

The BJP’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, performed better than expected.

The Indian National Congress had set a goal to double its 52 seats in Parliament, and as of Tuesday evening Eastern Time, it had won 99 seats.

In an election that saw record voter turnout — with 642 million people voting, according to Al Jazeera, in the seven-phase process that began in April and ended Saturday — the surprise results indicate that voters’ trust in the BJP is waning.

The BJP’s Hindutva ideology promotes Hindu nationalism, which critics have accused of stoking anti-Muslim hate and right-wing extremism.

Modi has even accused the Congress party of plotting to redistribute India’s wealth to the Muslim minority, Business Insider previously reported. Modi has denied targeting the Muslim minority to win the favor of the Hindu majority, Reuters reported.

Though Modi is still popular across India, some see him as an authoritarian leader, and his opponents on Tuesday called signs of his fading power a victory for democracy.

The president of the Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge, called the election a “moral and political loss” for Modi, PBS NewsHour reported. “This is public’s victory and a win for democracy,” he added.

Raghuram Rajan, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, echoed Kharge’s sentiment in a LinkedIn post.

“The Indian voter has spoken,” Rajan wrote. “And what a wise decision! This is a win for Indian democracy and a win for the Indian economy. Regardless of what happens over the next few days, we will have a strong opposition that forces the government to change course.”

Update: June 4, 2024, 6:27 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to reflect the latest election result numbers.