Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coalition is leading in a majority of seats in India’s general election, according to partial vote counts Tuesday.
By Krutika Pathi and Sheikh Saaliq, Associated PressSupporters of Bharatiya Janata Party watch the proceedings of counting of votes on a television screen at their party office in Gandhinagar, India, Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party showed a comfortable lead Tuesday, according to early figures reported by India's Election Commission, but was facing a stronger challenge from the opposition than had been expected.
The counting of more than 640 million votes cast over six weeks was set to take all day, and early figures could change. Modi’s party is part of the National Democratic Alliance, whose members led in 236 constituencies and won 50, according to the partial count. The Congress party is part of the INDIA alliance, which led in 211 constituencies and had won 19.Exit polling from the weekend had projected the NDA to win more than 350 seats. Indian markets, which had hit an all-time high on Monday, closed sharply down Tuesday, with benchmark stock indices — the NIFTY 50 and the BSE Sensex — both down by more than 5%.
But if his BJP is forced to form a coalition, the party would likely “be heavily dependent on the goodwill of its allies, which makes them critical players who we can expect will extract their pound of flesh, both in terms of policymaking as well as government formation,” said Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Outside BJP party headquarters in New Delhi, supporters banged drums and bells as the counting was underway. Earlier, party workers performed a Hindu ritual. Meanwhile, supporters at the Congress party headquarters appeared upbeat and chanted slogans praising Rahul Gandhi, the face of the party’s campaign.
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