BJP cut to size in key states but NDA poised to form govt a third time

Mercilessly cut to size in Uttar Pradesh Maharashtra and some of its strongholds up north the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP fell short of reaching the 272 mark individually in Lok Sabha However the counting trends and results that had come Tuesday night showed that the BJPled NDA was in a position to form its third government in a rowThe Opposition called the BJPrsquos depleted show a moral defeat for PM Narendra Modi in whose name votes were sought By Tuesday night the BJP had won 163 seats and was leading in 77 Some INDIA bloc leaders demanded Modirsquos resignation Others said the Opposition would explore the possibility of making its government Notwithstanding INDIA frontrsquos posturing the BJP remained unfazed and celebrated the victoryIn the 2019 Lok Sabha elections the NDA had a total of 353 seats and the UPA won 93 The BJPrsquos share was a massive 303 seats The Congress had only secured 52 Five years later the BJP had set a target of 400 for the NDA The trends and results indicated that achieving the goal was impossible for the BJP The ruling party had expected to plug the deficit from the gains in the eastern and southern states but in vainThe NDA had relied heavily on PM Narendra Modirsquos popularity during poll campaigning PicsAgenciesThe BJPrsquos hatrick bid faced a major roadblock from the Congressled INDIA bloc The Opposition combine was leading in 230 out of 543 seats The CONGRESS was on its way to doubling its tally with its senior leader Rahul Gandhi winning a seat in UP and Kerala each The voters of Amethi where Gandhi did not contest elected a Congress nominee and sent the Union Minister Smriti Irani Gandhirsquos nemesis in 2019 packingMaharashtra was no different It gave the INDIA bloc also known as MVA in the state a good lead over the NDA The BJP reduced its individual numbers by half while the Shiv Sena UBT Congress and NCP Sharad Pawar shared the spoils NDA was leading in 18 seats and MVA in 29 seats The Congress was all set to emerge as the single largest winner in Maharashtra bagging more seats than the BJP and Shiv Sena UBT who were expected to finish with similar numbersThe sevenphase elections were marked by changing narratives and tactics as polling progressed The BJP relied heavily on Modirsquos face even as Rahul and INDIA bloc leaders accused the PM of destroying democracy and planning to alter the Constitution Modirsquos campaign was spread across the nooks and corners of the country In a state like Maharashtra he focused sharply by addressing a record number of rallies but his magic did not work as expected For example Mumbai where Modi concluded the Maharashtra campaign elected the Opposition in most places A majority of the voters in Maharashtra chose Rahul Gandhi Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar over PM ModiRahul Gandhi said that the INDIA bloc leaders will discuss on Wednesday whether to approach NDA members to form a government at the CentreIn UP the Samajwadi Party made significant gains causing the BJPrsquos severe debacle in the state that sends the highest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha The largest state destroyed all projections and predictions with lsquoulta pultarsquo results It was on its way to halve BJPNDArsquos strength and make Akhilesh Yadavrsquos SP the topper The Congress also made gains in UP Bihar was said to be a gainer for INDIA bloc but it did not live up to the Oppositionrsquos high expectations The trends indicated the NDArsquos numbers to be decreasing but not as much A lastminute alliance with the TDP in Andhra Pradesh also saved the BJP blues down south Karnatakarsquos alliance also worked for the BJP Madhya Pradesh was about to give it all 29 seats It suffered considerable losses in Rajasthan as the Congress gained there Gujarat remained in favour of the BJP with it winning almost all seatsHowever West Bengal dashed the BJPrsquos hopes of bettering its 2019 numbers Mamata Banerjeersquos Trinamool Congress TMC defied the BJPrsquos bid despite contesting the elections without being part of the INDIA bloc in the state TMC remains the Opposition partner nationally and will play a crucial role in the days to come Mamata began her national campaign by asking PM Modi to resign in the wake of the resultsRahul Gandhirsquos bidArchitect of the Congressrsquos revival Rahul Gandhi said in New Delhi that the INDIA bloc will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to approach former partners such as the JDU and the TDP to attempt government formation at the CentreldquoWe are going to have a meeting with our partners tomorrow These questions will be raised and answered thererdquo Rahul said at a press conference when asked if the Congress and its allies will approach parties that are part of the NDA to try and form a governmentldquoWe wonrsquot say anything without asking the opinion of our allies Our alliance will decide tomorrow and whatever they decide we will act on thatrdquo he said He also said that the general elections were a fight to save the Constitution ldquoIndiarsquos poorest and backward stood up to save the ConstitutionrdquoSharad Pawar who will attend the Oppositionrsquos meeting in Delhi said he had not telephoned Nitish Kumar Chandrababu Naidu or any other leaderMust throw them out UddhavUddhav Thackeray said that the INDIA block must attempt to form a government ldquoWe will decide the PM candidate on Wednesday We must form a government because the BJP and the NDA are on the brink We must throw them outrdquo he said He said he hoped that the TDPrsquos Chandrababu Naidu would join the Opposition because he too was troubled a lot by the BJPThackeray said the INDIA bloc will gather adequate numbers because the parties and independents who have been troubled by the BJP would join them against the partyHe said he expected the MVA to win all 48 seats in Maharashtra ldquoIn fact Modi campaigned for us The BJP and others lost wherever he held ralliesrdquo Thackeray said ldquoThey said that we won the previous polls by using Modirsquos photo See what happened now They used my fatherrsquos photo But people supported us They snatched everything away from me Now they know the asli and naqlirdquo he said at the Shiv Sena UBTrsquos Dadar headquartersStill on top FadnavisMaharashtrarsquos Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who led the BJPrsquos campaign and strategy in Maharashtra said that Modi will be the PM for the third time because the country had given the NDA a majority ldquoThe BJP alone is set to win the number of seats that all the parties in the Opposition together arenrsquot leading Also the NDA has won handsomely in AP and Odisha I congratulate Modi ji and the workers of the NDA across the countryrdquo he said in a statement on X formerly TwitterHe said the party had reduced its numbers in UP and Maharashtra ldquoThe BJP could have gone beyond a 310mark if we had performed as expected in West Bengal The people have supported Modi ji very solidlyrdquo he addedFadnavis said it was unfortunate that the voters were misled with a false campaign that the BJP would change the Constitution ldquoThe mandate is to be accepted and honored We will introspect and go to the people in the Assembly elections We will ensure that the loss in the Lok Sabha is compensatedrdquo he added303Seats BJP won in 2019 polls353Total seats NDA won in 2019 polls230Seats INDIA bloc was leading in this yearBJP rules the mapDespite performing badly in its stronghold BJP still is the largest party Disclaimer Seat number as of press time and may have changed