A supporter of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP celebrates the election results outside the party’s headquarters in Mumbai on Thursday. PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP
As His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led in 327 seats in the Lok Sabha – the lower house of India’s bicameral parliament – and was set to form the government for the second time along with its NDA allies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday termed it as a win for India.
The BJP and NDA campaign was spearheaded by Prime Minister Modi on muscular nationalism and a strident anti-Congress plank.
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“Sabka Saath + Sabka Vikas + Sabka Vishwas = Vijayi Bharat. Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India.India wins yet again! #Vijayi Bharat,” Modi tweeted as the counting of votes brought good tidings for the ruling party.
On the other side, the main challenger Congress was way behind BJP, leading in only 51 seats.
The Parliamentary Board of BJP was set to meet on Thursday evening while Modi was likely to address party workers at 5:30pm (7pm Cambodian time).
Modi was leading comfortably in Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency where he was seeking a second term.
The counting of votes in 542 Lok Sabha constituencies began at 8am on Thursday amid tight security, capping a two-month election process which witnessed high-octane campaigning and charges of Electric Voting Machine (EVM) tampering and violations of the code of conduct.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday extended best wishes for his Indian counterpart Modi for his dynamic leadership as the BJP-led NDA is heading towards a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha elections.
“The election results are another confirmation of your leadership and the way you lead the world’s greatest democracy. Together we will continue to strengthen the great friendship between us and India and Israel and lead it to new heights,” Netanyahu tweeted.
As well as Netanyahu, Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa also took to twitter saying: “Heartfelt best wishes and congratulations @narendramodi for a second term in office. We wish you and the people of India the very best under your dynamic leadership, as you continue your journey in taking India forward.”
“We hope both our nations will build on the existing strong bilateral relationship that we share and work together to further strengthen it for mutual benefit under your leadership,” he added in a series of tweets.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also congratulated Prime Minister Modi as the NDA government looked all set to form the government for the second term at the Centre.
“Congratulations to @narendramodi on a magnificent victory! We look forward to working closely with you,” Wickremesinghe said.
World’s largest democracy
As the counting for the world’s largest democracy is underway, the ruling BJP seems set to cross the 340-mark along with its allies in the Lok Sabha elections, the results of which were announced on Thursday.
In the 2014 General Elections, the BJP had won 282 seats, 10 more than the halfway mark on its own and had crossed the 300-mark with its allies.
Meanwhile, the head of the Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar on Thursday said he accepted the people’s decision but added that “this is also a fact that people had their doubts about EVMs [electronic voting machines]”.
“I accept people’s decision but this is also a fact that people had their doubts about EVMs. Congress had performed really well in Rajiv Gandhi’s time but nobody doubted elections then. Same when Atal Bihari Vajpayee won,” he told the media here.
As per the latest trends, the ruling BJP is storming back to power with a comfortable majority on its own for the second consecutive time and is set to cross the 300-mark along with its allies in the Lok Sabha. Asian news international (ANI)
