The ruling NDA alliance headed up by Prime Minister Nerandra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won India’s general election with at least 274 seats – above the number of the 272 seats needed to form a government.
The world’s biggest election was held in seven phases over six weeks, with almost a billion people registered to vote.
But Modi’s BJP party has lost its outright parliamentary majority, and is projected to end the election with 240 out of 543 seats – much lower than the 400-seat target he set for himself during the election campaign.
Modi earlier claimed victory for the NDA group in a speech at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.
In his speech, the Prime Minister thanked voters for the mandate and assured them he would “do everything” to eradicate corruption “from the very root” in his third term even as he vowed to end poverty in India.
The opposition coalition, INDIA, has performed far better than expected, securing 193 seats so far across the country – with a particularly strong showing in the south.
The Congress Party’s Rahul Gandhi, widely viewed as Modi’s main rival, said the results signalled a rejection of Modi’s plans to alter the constitution.
Opposition figures had complained of an uneven playing field during the election period, with some leaders arrested and certain parties claiming their bank accounts had been frozen.
The BJP has 226 confirmed seats on its own, while the opposition INDIA alliance has 193 seats.
