New Delhi, Jun 4 :
Staying way behind the magic figure of 272 on its own, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP struggled to cross 250 till 4 PM while the Congress party headed for a century.
Even as the BJP-led NDA looks comfortable at 295 to form the next government, the enthusiasm in the BJP camp has dampened. The lower than expected performance in three key states of UP, Maharashtra and West Bengal has dented BJP’s prospects to reach 272-mark on its own.
At 4 PM, BJP’s tally stood at 246 followed by Congress at 96, Samajwadi Party at 33 and TMC at 29. BJP’s allies were doing well with TDP leading on 16 seats in Andhra Pradesh, JD (U) on 14 seats in Bihar and LJP (Ram Vilas) on five seats, as per Election Commission of India (ECI) data available on its website.
Congress party’s tally on its own stood at 97 even as it touched 100-mark at one point of time, while its allies DMK, SP and RJD were ahead on 21, 33 and 4 seats respectively. In Maharashtra, the grand old party’s allies NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UT) were ahead on 7 and 10 seats respectively.
The Indian stock market reacted sharply to the results as BSE Sensex tanking about 4400 points at the close of the market and NSE Nifty down about 1380 points reversing yesterday’s massive gains.
In the two assemblies – Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, the BJP was leading at 81 in 147-member Odisha while in AP the TDP was ahead at 134 seats of 173 leads available, as per Election Commission of India (ECI) data.
In Rajasthan also the BJP is facing tough competition from Congress as the BJP is ahead only in 14 seats while the Congress is in lead in 7 seats. The BJP, however, is holding on to its stronghold in Gujarat with 25 leads out of 26 while heading for clean sweep in MP with all 29 seats.
In Telengana both BJP and Congress are neck to neck with 8 leads each while in Tamil Nadu BJP is nowhere seen as far as seats are concerned. In Karnataka BJP-JD(S) combine are ahead in 19 seats while Congress is ahead on 9 seats.
One was arrested eight months back and spent two months in jail in a corruption case probed by his arch-rival’s administration, the other was written off by many after the latest of his many flip-flops. The two have now emerged as
PM Modi set for Historic 3rd
ingmakers in this Lok Sabha election that have not given an absolute majority to the BJP. These two leaders are Bihar Chief Minister and JDU chief Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party leader N Chandrababu Naidu.
Nearly 12 hours into the counting, TDP has won 16 seats on its own as the NDA dominated Andhra Pradesh with 21 wins out of 25 seats. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar’s JDU is set to win 12 seats, the same as BJP, despite contesting fewer constituencies than its ally.
As the poll picture became clearer by the evening, reports started doing the rounds that INDIA leaders are reaching out to the two veterans in their efforts to cobble together a majority. None of these were confirmed on record, as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said they will hold a meeting with other INDIA allies tomorrow on the way forward.
How The Numbers Stack Up
At 8 pm, 12 hours after counting began, INDIA allies have together won 233 seats — 39 short of the majority mark. The BJP-led NDA has crossed the majority mark with a tally of 291 — 19 more than the majority mark. Among the 19 unaligned MPs are four from YSRCP and Independents. So, if the INDIA bloc wants to have a shot at power, they need a combo of JDU, TDP and some Independents too. The BJP, on the other hand, must retain them at all costs if they want to stay in power.
In fact, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge dropped a broad hint when he spoke of new partners in the party’s presser this evening. “Until we talk to our alliance partners… and the new partners that could join us about how we could work together and get a majority, we will see. If I reveal all our strategies now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become wary (‘hoshiyar ho jayenge’).”
The Flip-Flop Man
Mr Kumar’s latest switch to the NDA, months after he led the efforts to stitch together an Opposition alliance, had drawn much ridicule, with many writing his political obituary. After decades of leading NDA in Bihar, Mr Kumar had to settle with less number of seats as the BJP made it clear who the boss is. Cut to June 4, and the JDU chief holds the upper hand. And with his history of flip-flops, the BJP cannot be too sure.
The Comeback Man
From winning three seats in 2019 to a score of 19 this year, Chandrababu Naidu has staged an epic comeback. Riding on TDP’s shoulders, the BJP too managed three wins in a state it has no presence in. To add to it, TDP has also swept the Assembly polls. As someone who played a key role in propping up HD Devegowda and IK Gujral as Chief Minister during the coalition era of 1990s, Mr Naidu has friends across the political divide. While senior TDP leaders, including his son Nara Lokesh, have said they would stick with NDA, the final call will be taken by the party boss.
