The BJP-led NDA is expected to return to power on Saturday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly being sworn in.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held around 300 rallies during the election campaign, which took place in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. He traveled to numerous sites virtually every day.
How has the country’s political scene changed since 2014?
Let’s have a closer look.
2014
The BJP had been out of office for ten years by 2014, when the NDA led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with its ‘India Shining’ motto, lost its majority.
The country, which had seen a decade of Congress rule, was fed up with the numerous scandals and corruption schemes.
The BJP proposed Narendra Modi, then Gujarat’s chief minister, as their prime ministerial candidate.
“The BJP projected Narendra Modi – then the chief minister of Gujarat – as its prime ministerial face.”
At the election, the BJP won its first majority since 1984, promising to revive manufacturing and investment and create millions of jobs.
The party, which gained 282 seats—enough to form a majority in Parliament on its own—netted a 31% vote share.
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Alliance gained 336 seats with a 38.5% vote share.
The BJP dominated the Hindi heartland, winning 73 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 41 in Maharashtra, 31 in Bihar, and 27 in Madhya Pradesh.
The NDA also saw significant victories in Gujarat (26 seats), Rajasthan (25 seats), Delhi (7 seats), Himachal Pradesh (4 seats), Uttarakhand (five seats), Jharkhand (12 seats), Chhattisgarh (11 seats), and Haryana (7 seats).
The stunning performance was called the ‘Modi wave.’
His promise to rebuild the faltering economy, combined with his rags-to-riches narrative and image as a clean and competent chief minister, drew voters in.
The UPA, on the other hand, was reduced to just 60 seats, with the Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, winning 44.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. PTI
The Grand Old Party received 19.3 percent of the vote.
The Congress won only two seats in Uttar Pradesh, in its strongholds of Amethi and Raebareli.
The UPA and Congress won only 12 seats in the Hindi heartland.
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Modi was sworn in as India’s Prime Minister on May 26, 2014.
Modi, the country’s 15th prime minister, succeeded Manmohan Singh.
2019
In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought a second term.
While most pollsters expected the BJP to return, they predicted a smaller impact.
As a result, many people were taken aback in 2019 when the BJP raised their parliamentary total to 303 seats, with a 37.46 percent vote share.
The party made history by increasing its majority in a second consecutive landslide election victory.
Meanwhile, the NDA received 353 seats.
Once again, the Hindi heartland propelled the BJP to a landslide victory.
The party secured 74 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 39 in Bihar, and 28 in Madhya Pradesh.
The party also gained 77 seats in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi, along with nine in Chhattisgarh and 11 in Jharkhand.
In total, the BJP won 238 seats in the Hindi heartland.
The Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, failed to deliver once more.
The great old party won only 52 seats on its own, with its vote share dipping below 10%.
The UPA secured 91 seats.
Even worse for the Congress, Rahul lost the party’s renowned Amethi constituency to Smriti Irani.
Modi was sworn in for a second term on May 30, 2019, in front of 8,000 people, including South Asian dignitaries, Bollywood stars, and prominent politicians.
Rahul, whose Congress party suffered its second consecutive devastating defeat, appeared in the audience with his mother Sonia, the former Congress leader.
The repercussions forced Rahul to leave as Congress chief, perhaps for good, despite the impassioned pleadings of his party members.
2024
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Modi sought a third consecutive term, equaling India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s record.
Before the elections, the NDA set a lofty objective of 400 seats in the Lok Sabha.
Though three exit polls gave the BJP a chance to fulfill its ‘400 paar’ goal, the results were far from expected.
The BJP got 240 seats, 32 fewer than the majority required to form a government on its own—a far cry from the 303 and 282 seats it won in 2019 and 2014, respectively.
The Hindi heartland has once again come under the limelight.
The BJP has suffered heavy defeats in three Hindi heartland states, including the politically critical Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Haryana.
The party won no seats in Tamil Nadu and lost ground in Karnataka.
However, the BJP made advances in Kerala, winning a seat for the first time in a state dominated by the Congress and the Left, as well as in Telangana, where it gained eight seats.
Suresh Gopi, a popular Malayalam actor, has won the Thrissur seat in Kerala to assist the lotus bloom.
However, the NDA alliance won 292 seats with a 42.8 percent vote share.
This comes after the BJP’s main partners N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) won 16 and 12 seats in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, respectively.
JD(U) supremo Bihar Nitish Kumar. File photo
The elections also showed the rebirth of the main opposition Congress party under Rahul Gandhi, as well as the unexpected role of Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh as a giant killer.
The Congress, which is a member of the Opposition INDIA alliance, gained 99 seats in 2024.
The party reduced the BJP’s share in Rajasthan and Haryana.
The Trinamool Congress, another important ally of the Opposition alliance, gained 29 seats in West Bengal.
The BJP, which had 18 seats in Bengal during the previous Lok Sabha election, won 12 seats.
The INDIA bloc secured 234 seats.
Modi promises to work with all states.
As he prepares to take office for a record-breaking third term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to cooperate with all states, regardless of political party, to build a developed India. Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, served three consecutive terms.
On Tuesday, Modi delivered his first statement following the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, outlining his vision for the third term, stating it will be a tenure of major decisions with a focus on combating corruption.
This is the first time Modi, 73, would rely on partners to continue in power since entering politics.
“The fight against corruption gets tougher by the day. Corruption is brazenly praised for political reasons. “In our third term, the NDA will place a strong emphasis on combating all forms of corruption,” Modi stated.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge hailed the election results as a “victory for the people and democracy.”
“We’ve been stressing that this struggle is between the public and Modi… This mandate goes against Modi. This represents his political and moral failure. It is a significant defeat for a candidate who sought votes in his own name. He has suffered a moral setback,” Kharge told reporters at the AICC headquarters, accompanied by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, following the Congress’ strong showing.
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