Narendra Modi has claimed victory in India’s elections for his National Democratic Alliance (NDA) – despite the ongoing vote count suggesting his own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was set to fall short of an outright majority.
Despite likely being forced to rely on alliance partners to form his third consecutive government, Mr Modi hailed the world’s “biggest victory” in a speech at his party’s New Delhi headquarters as counting continued on Tuesday in an election participated in by some 640 million people.
Mr Modi’s alliance is on course to win more than the 272 seats needed to form a majority, but the BJP is likely to fall short of an outright majority and far short of the party’s performance in 2019 when they won 303 seats. Until only recently Mr Modi had boasted the alliance would win more than 400 seats.
Leader of the opposition Congress party Rahul Gandhi thanked voters for “saving the Indian constitution”, telling a press conference: “I am extremely proud of the people of India. And I am extremely proud of the people resisting the onslaught.”
