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Indian voters 'punished' PM Modi's party in elections: Rahul Gandhi

For the first time in a decade, Modi's BJP could fail to secure an overall majority of its own meaning it would need to rely on its alliance partners.

AFP

BJP itself had won or was leading in only 239, well down from the 303 it took five years ago. / Photo: AFP

Top Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has said that voters have "punished" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after election commission figures showed the government projected to return with a reduced majority.

"Voters have punished the BJP," Gandhi told reporters on Tuesday. "I was confident that the people of this country would give the right response."

Commentators and exit polls had projected an overwhelming victory for Modi, whose campaign wooed the Hindu majority to the worry of the country's 200-million-plus Muslim community, deepening concerns over minority rights.

But for the first time in a decade, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could fail to secure an overall majority of its own, figures from the election commission projected, meaning it would need to rely on its alliance partners.

The election commission figures showed the BJP and its allies (NDA) leading in at least 292 seats out of a total of 543, enough for a parliamentary majority. In comparison, the opposition alliance (INDIA) was leading in 232 seats.

But the BJP itself had won or was leading in only 239, well down from the 303 it took five years ago, while Congress had won or was ahead in 98 and set to nearly double its parliamentary seats.

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Allies to rescue Modi

Two key regional allies in Narendra Modi's coalition have endorsed him as India's next prime minister, their spokespeople said, after trends showed Modi's party was falling short of a majority in a general election.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United) said their pre-poll alliance with Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)was intact and they would form the next government.

Their comments came after media speculation that the opposition alliance, which is doing much better than expected, was also in touch with them.

N. Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, based in the southern coastal state of Andhra Pradesh, is currently the second-biggest party in Modi's National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after the BJP. Naidu, who allied with the opposition the last time, has spoken about loan waivers for farmers and privatisation of air and sea ports.

"TDP has a pre-poll alliance with NDA and it will continue, no doubt about that," said party lawmaker K. Ravindra Kumar. "PM Modi and Naidu have congratulated each other."

JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of the poor state of Bihar, has often switched sides and returned to Modi's alliance in January, having earlier helped form an opposition alliance of more than two dozen parties for the general election.

"We are formally with this NDA alliance and will participate in making the government," JD(U) spokesperson Abhishek Jha said. When asked if the party would support Modi as NDA's prime minister, he said: "Definitely."