Narendra Modi claims victory for his coalition in India election – but party likely short of majority
Narendra Modi has claimed victory along with his coalition partners in the India election, but his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks as if it will fall short of an overall majority.
A total of 272 seats are needed for a majority in the country’s lower house of parliament – but Mr Modi’s party is ahead in only 242 seats during counting so far.
The BJP is now expected to form a coalition government – likely securing him a third consecutive term as prime minister.
Mr Modi described the coalition success as a “historical feat”.
Exit polls had suggested the popular but controversial Mr Modi would win an overwhelming majority.
In previous elections, in 2014 and 2019, his party achieved landslide victories.
The BJP is part of a broader National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of parties – who, in total, are ahead in nearly 300 constituencies.
If Mr Modi does end up leading a coalition government, the 73-year-old would become only the second prime minister – after India‘s independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru – to win three consecutive terms.
The counting of 642 million votes in the world’s largest election began early this morning with around half tallied so far.
Despite the initial results on Tuesday, Mr Modi declared victory in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
He wrote: “People have placed their faith in NDA, for a third consecutive time! This is a historical feat in India’s history.”
Mr Modi also thanked supporters and campaign staff, adding: “Words will never do justice to their exceptional efforts.”
‘Back to the days of bargaining’
The Hindu nationalist BJP and its allies have faced a broad opposition alliance led by the Congress party and its main campaign leader, Rahul Gandhi.
The anti-Modi alliance is ahead in 232 constituencies so far, according to the early counting.
Senior opposition figure Rahul Gandhi waves to supporters in New Delhi on Tuesday. Pic: Reuters
Indian political commentator Arati R Jerath said: “We’ll have to see who is going to lead this government because we are now going back to the days of bargaining which we haven’t seen in the last 10 years, because Modi was so dominant.
“Now, Modi is not known as a consensual figure. So, it’ll be very interesting to see how he manages the pulls and pressures of a coalition government.”
BJP supporters in Bengaluru, south India, on Tuesday. Pic: Reuters
Milan Vaishnav, from thinktank the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said a BJP failure to secure an outright majority would be “uncharted territory, both for Indians as well as for the prime minister”.
He added the party could be left being “heavily dependent on the goodwill of its allies, which makes them critical players who we can expect will extract their pound of flesh, both in terms of policymaking as well as government formation.”
Read more: Narendra Modi: A history-making leader with god-like status – and fierce critics
Around 970 million people – more than 10% of the world’s population – were eligible to vote after polls opened in mid-April, with an average turnout of around 66% across the seven phases, according to official figures.
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Just how many people voted in India’s election?
During his 10 years in power, Mr Modi has transformed India’s political landscape, his popularity outstripping that of his party.
However, a decade of his leadership has also left the country deeply divided – religiously and economically.
‘Hybrid regime’
Mr Modi’s opponents and critics say his Hindu-first politics have bred intolerance, hate speech and brazen attacks against the country’s minorities – raising concerns over the treatment of Muslims, Christians and other religious groups.
India’s economy is among the fastest-growing in the world and has helped the country emerge as a global power and a counterweight to China.
But it has become unequal, with only a small portion of Indians benefitting from the economic boom and youth unemployment soaring.
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The country’s democratic values under Mr Modi’s leadership have also come under scrutiny.
Under Mr Modi, the media – once viewed as vibrant and largely independent – has become more pliant and critical voices muzzled.
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Many watchdogs have now categorised India as a “hybrid regime” that is neither a full democracy nor a full autocracy.
Mr Modi’s government has repeatedly denied and dismissed accusations of discrimination, saying its policies aim for the welfare of all communities without bias and that it enforces the law equally.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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