The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Wednesday the official results of the Lok Sabha [the lower house of Parliament] elections, in which Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 240 seats and the opposition Indian National Congress (INC) won 99.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 293 seats and the opposition INC-led National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) won 232 seats.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party, which used to have 303 MPs in the Lok Sabha, lost 63 seats.
The INC, on the other hand, has almost doubled its MPs from the previous general elections when the party won only 52 seats in the Lok Sabha.
The Lok Sabha has a total of 545 seats. Of these, 543 are directly elected and two MPs are appointed by the President. A simple majority requires 272 MPs.
According to the final results announced by the Election Commission early Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Modi will be able to form the government for the third time with the support of the NDA. On Saturday, he will be sworn in as Prime Minister for the third time, making him India's first and only leader with three consecutive terms.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has based its politics on Hindu nationalism, but the secular political movements that enter the NDA are now likely to increase their influence in the new government, political analysts predict.
Parliamentary elections in India, the world's most populous country with a population of more than 1.4 billion, lasted a total of 44 days, making it the world's longest. Nearly 970 million people - more than a tenth of the world's population - were eligible to vote, 642 million of whom exercised their right.
/MY/
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