Modi leads NDA back to power winning 355 seats
23 May 2019
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The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rode back to power, securing 355 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, on the back of people’s faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and an opposition alliance that looked untenable.
The NDA, in fact, returned to power with a better tally, with the BJP on its own securing a clear majority of 305 seats in the lower house of Parliament.
“Together we will build a strong and inclusive India,” Modi said on Twitter as the counting progessed.
“India wins yet again!”
Modi’s victory boosted financial markets as investors expect his government to continue to pursue economic reforms.
BJP has won 305 Lok Sabha seats while the NDA claimed 355 seats, crossing the 2014 tally. The BJP has demolished the combined opposition and confined the Congress Party to around 50 seats. Modi himself won in Varanasi with a margin of over 3.5 lakh votes while party president Amit Shah won in Gandhinagar in their home state of Gujarat by over 4 lakh votes.
On the other hand, the Congress-led opposition alliance United Progressive Alliance (UPA) secured 97 seats, 38 more compared to the 2014 elections, despite drubbings in some key constituencies. Among others, the YSR Congress of Andhra Pradesh secured 24 seats, while West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress won 22 seats, BJD 12,BSP 11, TRS 8, Left 5 and AAP 1, all adding up to 83.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi lost to BJP’s Smriti Irani in the Ameti Lok Sabha constituency while the Congress leader won by a record margin of 4 lakh votes from his second constituency of Wynad in Kerala.
The NDA had won 336 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and BJP had garnered 282 seats on its own.
As predicted in exit polls, BJP has made handsome gains in West Bengal and managed to thwart the threats from BSP-SP Mahagathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh. While the Modi wave swept through the Hindi heartland and other major states like Gujarat, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra and Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh appeared untouched. But, in Telangana, the BJP was ahead in four seats, the same as the Telangana Rashtra Samiti.
The Bharatiya Janata Party secured all seven seats in capital Delhi. BJP also grabbed 11 seats from Trinamool Congress in West Bengal despite stiff resistance from Mamata Banerjee. TMC was ahead in 23seats while the BJP was leading in 18 in the state.
BJP’s Pragya Thakur also won a key contest against Congress vetreran Digvijay Singh in Bhopal. The BJP-led NDA secured 38 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
In Maharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine gave a tough fight to the Congress-NCP alliance in 42 seats.
In Karnataka, the BJP was leading in 23 seats, Congress in 3 and the JD(S) in 2 seats.
In Uttar pradesh Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh was trailing against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sanjeev Kumar Balyan from Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha constituency, which went to polls on 11 April. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan of BJP had defeated Kadir Rana of the BSP by a margin of 4,01,150 votes in the 2014 general elections. Balyan is the minister of state for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation under Cabinet minister Uma Bharti.
In Rae Baraeli, Sonia Gandhi's lead narrowed down to 800 votes while Jaya Prada who was trailing behind Azam Khan in Rampur, moved ahead of Azam Khan.
Sonia Gandhi was leading from Rae Bareli but with only around 800 votes. Meanwhile, Jaya Prada, who was trailing behind Azam Khan in Rampur in early trends, has now gained a lead.
BJP's Maneka Gandhi is leading by 1,100 votes from Sultanpur leaving behind Sanjay Singh of INC. Likewise, her son Varun Gandhi was also in lead from the Mau constituency. The mother-son duo had swapped their seats in these elections.
The BJP is leading in 23 of 25 seats in Rajasthan while the Congress is ahead in four seats. The BJP had won all 25 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated PM Modi: “Greetings to my friend PM Modi for impressive victory in the election! Results are another confirmation of your leadership and the way you lead the world’s greatest democracy. Together we'll continue to strengthen the great friendship between US (us) and India and take it to new heights,” Netanyahu said.
He tweeted in Hebrew and Hindi.
KP Sharma Oli, the Prime Minister of Nepal congratulated PM Modi. “I extend warmest congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji for landslide election victory in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019. I wish all success ahead. I look forward to working closely with you,” Oli tweeted.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe congratulated Modi on his return to power. “Congratulations to @narendramodi on a magnificent victory! We look forward to working closely with you. - @RW_UNP,” he tweeted.
