Almost all post-poll surveys on India’s television news channels forecasted a landslide victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
To win a majority, a party or a coalition needs to cross the 272-seat mark.
Most exit polls predicted 350-370 seats for the NDA and 107-140 for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), an umbrella bloc of opposition parties that have come together to fight the BJP.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP won 303 seats.
“I can say with confidence that the people of India have voted in record numbers to reelect the NDA government,” Modi wrote on social media platform X as the exit polls rolled out.
Opposition parties have dismissed the exit polls, which have in the past proved unreliable in India, by saying they were unscientific and did not reflect reality.
The 73-year-old Modi, who first came to power in 2014, is vying to be the second prime minister after India’s independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru to win three consecutive terms.
, Nehru’s great-grandson, is a key leader representing the Indian National Congress in the opposition against Modi.
India witnessed a vitriolic campaign over the past month, with parties accusing each other of religious bias and of posing a threat to sections of the population.
With the BJP favoring a Hindu nationalist course, Modi is known for prioritizing Hindu interests.
have voiced fears that if reelected, he could try to change the constitution of the South Asian nation in order to further consolidate a Hindu nationalist agenda.
The BJP rejects this claim.
During his campaign, Modi accused the Congress party, which leads the INDIA bloc, of favoring the country’s 200 million Muslims.
The INDIA alliance denied it favored Muslims in the Hindu-majority country.
Some have accused Modi of hate speech over comments he made about Muslims during the campaign, saying he may have violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during elections, which is enforced by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
However, the body has been over the remarks.
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