Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Union cabinet meeting in the national capital, a day after the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were announced. Union Ministers Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, and other cabinet ministers participated in the meeting held at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg.
The term of the current Lok Sabha ends on June 16. Meanwhile, both the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA and the Opposition INDIA bloc are set to hold meetings on Wednesday to chalk out strategies for future courses of political action.
The NDA leaders are scheduled to meet later today, at Prime Minister Modi's residence at 3:30 pm. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced on his social media platform X that leaders of the INDIA bloc will meet around 6 pm here in the national capital. Having witnessed a favourable outcome in the LS polls, the leaders of the INDIA bloc will strategise their next move.
As per the results of the Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission of India has declared results for 542 of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, with the BJP winning 240 seats and the Congress 99. The BJP victory tally was much lower than its 2019 tally of 303 and the 282 seats it had won in 2014. The Congress, on the other hand, registered a strong growth, winning 99 seats compared to 52 that it had won in 2019 and 44 seats in 2014.
The INDIA bloc crossed the 230 mark, posing stiff competition, and defying all predictions from exit polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured a third term, but the BJP will need to rely on the support of other parties in his coalition - JD (U) chief Nitish Kumar and TDP's chief Chandrababu Naidu.
The BJP fell 32 seats short of the 272 majority mark after votes polled in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were counted.
For the first time, since the Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in 2014, it did not secure a majority on its own. Meanwhile, PM Modi has staked the claim to form the government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people for the mandate and said BJP-led NDA will form its third successive government and that it is the victory of the resolve of Viksit Bharat, of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas' and of the strong faith of people in India's Constitution.
"On this sacred day, it is confirmed that NDA is forming the government for the third time. We are grateful to the people, they reposed full faith in the BJP, and NDA. This is the victory of the world's largest democracy, it is a victory of strong faith in India's Constitution, it is the victory of the resolve of Viksit Bharat. It is the victory of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas'," he said in his address at the BJP headquarters on Tuesday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from ANI)
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