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‘Continuing concerns’
The BJP won 240 seats in parliament, a sharp drop from 303 five years ago, and lost its majority by 32 seats.
The main opposition Congress party staged a significant turnaround, winning 99 seats, almost double its 52 seats in 2019.
“The people of the country have said to Narendra Modi ‘we don’t need you’. I am sure the people of the country will respond in the right way,” opposition leader Rahul Gandhi told reporters.
Commentators and exit polls predicted a landslide victory for Modi, who critics accuse of leading the jailing of opposition figures and trampling on the rights of India’s more than 200 million Muslim community.
Modi was re-elected to represent the Hindu holy city of Varanasi by a narrow margin of 152,300 votes in his personal campaign, compared with a margin of nearly half a million votes five years ago.
Today, the BJP is dependent on coalition partners and must seek consensus to push its policies in Parliament.
The Times of India reported: “The BJP may use its influence, encouraged by the tentative attempts of the Congress and other opposition parties, which will be a constant worry for the BJP.”
Hartosh Singh Bal, political editor of Caravan magazine in New Delhi, said Modi now had to “bear the fate of working with an alliance partner … who could withdraw at any time”.
Two of the elected independent MPs are serving prison sentences: radical Sikh separatist preacher Amritpal Singh and Sheikh Abdul Rashid from Indian-controlled Kashmir, who was arrested in 2019 on charges of “financing terrorism” and money laundering.
Stocks tumbled on Tuesday amid speculation that a smaller majority would hamper the BJP’s ability to push through reforms.
Shares in the main listed unit of Adani Enterprises, owned by key Modi ally Gautam Adani, plunged 25% before recovering slightly.
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