Narendra Modi and Amit Shah at BJP office in New Delhi on Thursday. (Source: Twitter)
General Election Results 2019 highlights: Registering a mandate bigger than the 2014 polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA returned to power for a second straight term. The BJP maintained its hold over its core vote base –the Hindi heartland, Gujarat and Maharashtra — and made inroads in Bengal and Odisha. With the landslide victory, Modi is the first non-Congress full majority Prime Minister to get re-elected with a stronger majority.
After the victory, PM Modi and party chief Amit Shah reached party headquarters in New Delhi to a rapturous welcome. In his speech, Modi promised that he will devote “every moment of my life and every fibre of my body” to the welfare of the nation. Modi also promised the bitterness exhibited during the campaign would be pushed behind.
LIVE UPDATES: BJP set to enter Lok Sabha with historic mandate
On the contrary, the Congress’ strategy to pose a formidable challenge to BJP has come as a cropper. It failed to carry forward the momentum gained during its recent victories in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Assembly polls. The only silver lining in the bleak scenario for Congress is that it fared better in Punjab and Kerala. The results have raised questions on Congress’ leadership and the future of the grand old party.
The full results of the seven-phase elections are expected to be officially declared only late evening.
Lok Sabha election results 2019 LIVE UPDATES: 542 seats, 29 states, seven union territories, 60 crore voters, and two national alliances. This all boils down to who would cross the halfway mark of 272.
While Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is reaping the reward of the hard work he has done over the last eight years ever since he founded YSR Congress Party in March 2011, the success in Andhra Pradesh is another feather in the cap of political strategist Prashant Kishor and his Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC) team. Sreenivas Janyala decodes how the duo outsmarted N Chandrababu Naidu.
The BJP not only repeated its 2014 tally by heading towards a win in all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, but also improved its vote share from 59% in 2014 to over 62% this year as the party returned to power at the Centre with a larger mandate. Leading the BJP’s win in the state was party president Amit Shah, who won from the prestigious Gandhinagar constituency with a margin of over 5.57 lakh votes. In Gujarat, voting was held in a single phase on April 23, which had witnessed a record turnout of 64.11%. Read the full story
Riding a Modi wave, the BJP and Shiv Sena alliance swept the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra on Thursday, winning 41 of the state’s 48 seats. In a near replay of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress-NCP alliance was completely routed. While the Congress was leading in just one seat Chandrapur (Vidarbha), its ally NCP won four seats — Satara, Shirur, Baramati in western Maharashtra and Raigad in Konkan region. The AIMIM, under the banner of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), won from Aurangabad in Marathwada. In Amravati, an Independent candidate (backed by NCP) was leading.
It was almost Jammu and Ladakh versus Kashmir in Jammu and Kashmir, as BJP won the two seats from Jammu and the lone Ladakh seat, while the National Conference (NC) won the three seats of Kashmir Valley. The BJP, in its manifesto, had promised to abrogate the special status provided to J&K by Indian Constitution through Articles 370 and 35-A. The NC — like the PDP — promised to fight attempts at changing this, as also work for getting more autonomy for J&K. Read more
THIS IS the worst performance for the Left, which drew a blank in its one-time bastion of West Bengal and won just one seat in Kerala, where it is in power. Its overall tally was five, down from 10 in 2014. The Left has seen a steady decline since 2009. In the past, the Left did well whenever there was a pro-Congress wave — it won 54 seats in 1980, when Indira Gandhi stormed back to power, and 33 seats in 1984, in the wake of her assassination. In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, it won 56 seats.
In a clear indication that the Left votes have shifted to the BJP in West Bengal, the CPI(M) saw its vote share drop from 22.96% in 2014 to only 6.3%. The CPI vote share was down from 2.36% in 2014 to 0.39%. Read more
At a time when the Congress was swept away even in the states where it had won the recent Assembly polls, the party won eight of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, where Amarinder Singh delivered a second win for the party after the impressive win in the 2017 Assembly elections. The Congress win even bucked the post-Balakot surge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with Amarinder, an ex-Armyman, accusing him at every rally of using air strikes to garner votes.Among the biggest Congress wins was in Patiala, where Amarinder’s wife Preneet Kaur defeated Surjit Singh Rakhra of SAD. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP won two seats each and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) retained one.
While the Akali Dal fared poorly, losing by huge margins in eight seats, the wins for both president Sukhbir Singh Badal and wife Harsimrat will consolidate the hold of the family on the party. Read more
The BJP created history in Haryana by winning all 10 constituencies with comfortable margins. The Modi factor was one big reason for the landslide win. Besides, Haryana sends a large population of its youth to the armed forces and the ripples of the Pulwama attack were felt in its villages. The Congress, on the other hand, was a divided house, as was evident both in the panchayat polls and in the Jind bypoll, in which party national spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala came a distant third. The INLD split vertically with party supremo Om Prakash Chautala's younger son Ajay Chautala forming his own Jannayak Janata Party. Traditionally, Haryana was ruled by the party that got the Jat votes. But the BJP managed to polarise the voters, creating a Jat, non-Jat divide. While the Jat votes got split among Jat candidates, the BJP managed to consolidate the non-Jat electorate. Read more
Although its Lok Sabha tally is set to dip, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Thursday managed to withstand the wave in favour of the BJP across the country. The party also retained power in the Odisha Assembly polls, with its supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik set for a historic fifth term.
In Odisha, one of its focus states where it contested on its own, the BJP’s vote share has risen from 21.5% to 38% this time. It has managed to recapture the ground lost to the BJD in Western Odisha. However, the BJP was unable to translate this advantage to the Assembly seats, where the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD won 113 of the 147 seats. The BJP managed to win only 22. While the BJD registered a 12% lead against its nearest rival, the BJP has reaffirmed its position as the growing alternative party in the coastal state. Read more
In the build-up to 2019, the BJP made most of the perceived resentment against Banerjee’s “appeasement” politics. For the BJP, winning Bengal was more an ideological dream than an electoral victory. Many in the BJP consider it the party’s birthplace because its founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee hailed from the state. Also, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the BJP’s predecessor, had won two Lok Sabha seats and nine assembly seats in Bengal in 1952.
To widen its net, the BJP tapped the Left cadres who were being hounded by the TMC. According to a BJP leader, groups of Left cadres would approach BJP leaders to pledge support. “It is evident that all votes of CPM have gone to BJP. Our party chief has always said that Baam (Left) and Ram (BJP) are working together in Bengal,” said Sougata Roy, TMC candidate from Dum Dum who was leading over his rivals. Read more
After the BJP’s stunning victory in 2014, many compared Amit Shah to the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, who was known for his strategising skills. But someone who knew Shah from his early years in politics said, “Pramod could be indulgent while dealing with a request for a seat from someone he loved or respected, even if he knew he would not be able to win it. But with Shah, it’s impossible to make him oblige if he is not sure you can win that seat.” Read the full story
With the BJP breaching West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress has emerged substantially scathed in this semi-final ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls. For the BJP, it was as much an ideological victory as an electoral victory, powered by meticulous planning on the ground. The growth of the party’s organisational strength in a state where it had little base has been meteoric. While it successfully pushed its Hindutva narrative and polarised voters, it consistently fanned the angst around Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s “appeasement” politics. The Left and the Congress, the other two players in the state, have been pushed to the margins. While the Left has been wiped out from what was once its citadel, the Congress managed to win just one seat.
Congressmen blame the “goodwill” gesture by the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party alliance by not contesting the seat coupled with the message that Rahul Gandhi might leave Amethi after winning both Wayanad and Amethi, as a twin force behind his defeat. People in Amethi said that the BSP vote bank shifted to the BJP this time, causing loss to the Congress.
While the alliance between the BSP and the SP managed to make some dent in the mandate that the BJP got in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 — 71 seats — the BSP emerged to be the major gainer. The BJP lost numbers compared to 2014 but gained in terms of vote-share. The SP got around the same number of seats but lost in terms of vote-share. The BSP, which led on 10 seats, maintained its vote-share.
Despite losing about 15 seats to the alliance, the BJP’s vote share increased in the state from 42.63 per cent in 2014 to approximately 49.5 per cent this time. The BSP maintained the same vote-share (around 19.27), while the SP’s share dipped from 22 per cent in 2014 to about 18 per cent. The Congress’s vote-share came down from 7.53 per cent to about 6.3 per cent. The party got a major shock in Amethi, where AICC president Rahul Gandhi lost to Union minister Smriti Irani of BJP by about 55,000 votes. Irani maintained her lead against Rahul through all the rounds of counting. Read more
As on 7.00 am, the results for 510 seats have been declared. Of them, the BJP has won 290, while the Congress has 50. The saffron party is still leading in 13 seats and the grand old party in two.
A total of 38 candidates belonging to political families, particularly regional, were in the fray. Of these, 22 were trailing at 7 pm. What will make this more bitter for the Opposition is that even in this, the voters appeared to reserve their contempt for the non-NDA parties. All the 22 trailing belonged to non-BJP parties — 10 from the Congress, three the SP, two the RLD, two the JD(S) and one each the TRS, TDP, NCP, RJD and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP). The eight NDA candidates (six BJP, two LJP) with political lineage all appeared to be winning by comfortable margins. Apart from them, two candidates from the Congress, two from the SP and one each from JDS and NCP families were also winning.
BJP in Karnataka registered its biggest-ever victory in the state winning 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats. The party managed to garner 51.2 per cent of the votes, outdoing its 2014 performance when it received 43.37 per cent of the votes. The election also saw several Congress and JD(S) stalwarts losing their deposits. While former prime minister and JD(S) leader H D Devegowda lost in Tumkur, Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily and K H Muniyappa lost in Kalaburagi, Chikkaballapur and Kolar respectively.
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Sushil Kumar Modi answers questions on the NDA’s win in Bihar, the importance of Nitish Kumar to the alliance and the problems with the opposition’s campaign
1. Did you expect such a victory, especially against a seemingly good social alliance?
Even though several experts said Modi’s popularity was a uniform factor, they added a rider of the Opposition's good social combination. But we could see the wave all around. We did expect it.
2. So what worked in your favour?
We had got 38 per cent of the votes in 2014 when Nitish Kumar was not part of the NDA. He alone had got about 16 per cent of the votes. If we combine our votes with his, we would be getting over 54-55 per cent of the votes.
3. Do you think the RJD-led Grand Alliance ran a negative campaign?
They had no issue except taking up reservation and their perceived threat to the Constitution.
4. Were you able to stitch up a better social combination?
Victories of BJP state president Nityanand Rai and Ashok Yadav suggest we also got the Yadav votes. There was perfect synergy in NDA.
KC Tyagi answers 5 questions on the possible role that JD(U) may play at the centre and the synergy between allies that helped NDA rout opposition.
1. Did you ever fancy such near perfect strike rate for the JD (U)?
Honestly speaking, we did not expect such an overwhelming win. But, we had a sense somewhere that we have a great combination with the BJP and the LJP.
2. But why was the ‘Modi wave’ not obvious as it was in 2014?
Nitish Kumar, Ram Vilas Paswan and Sushil Kumar Modi travelled to all Assembly segments. We had reports of NDA doing well. But this victory has suggested more than a wave.
3. Where do you see Nitish Kumar with this win?
In national politics, Nitish Kumar has revived himself. With Modi and Nitish together, it was bound to be a success.
4. What role do you see for the JD (U) at the Centre?
Shiv Sena and JD (U) got good numbers and will have a definite role to play at Centre.
5. Where do you think RJD-led Grand Alliance has gone wrong?
They measured everything in terms of caste but it was an alliance in disarray.
A dugga from Nashik, a chenda from Kollam and a nagaada from Palwal — BJP’s resounding victory Thursday found crescendo at the party’s headquarters at Delhi’s DDU Marg, hours before the final count was in. By noon, the office was swathed in saffron, dancing had begun, and the premises was swarming with party workers, volunteers and cardboard cut-outs of the PM and BJP chief. Read more here
As per election commission data at midnight, the None of The Above (NOTA) vote share stood at about 2 per cent of the total votes polled in Bihar, where results of almost all the 40 seats had been declared.
In the states of UP, Gujarat and West Bengal, 0.84 per cent, 1.38 per cent, 0.96 per cent votes were cast in favour of NOTA. The counting was still on for a few seats in each of these states.
The ruling BJP is set to make a clean sweep in Haryana, winning eight out of the 10 seats and leading in the remaining two. While it would be the BJP's best ever performance in Haryana, since it was carved out as a separate state in 1966, the Congress was facing a likely rout after a gap of 20 years. As per results declared for eight seats and latest trends made available by Election Commission around midnight.
The Bharatiya Janata Party retained all five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand. State BJP president Ajay Bhatt defeated former chief minister and Congress leader Harish Rawat by a margin of over three lakh votes in Nainital. A variety of factors seem to have worked in favour of the BJP nominees who sought votes on the twin planks of nationalism and development under Narendra Modi's leadership. (PTI)
The Congress Working Committee is set to meet on May 25 as it faces another brutal defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. The party could barely manage over 50 seats as BJP crossed the magic figures with over 300 seats. Congress president Rahul Gandhi also lost his stronghold of Amethi.
BJP's Hema Malini retained the Mathura Lok Sabha seat by defeating RLD candidate Kunwar Narendra Singh. Hema Malini defeated Singh by a margin of 2,93,471 votes, according to the Election Commission website. While the actor-turned-politician polled 6,71,293 votes, Singh, her nearest rival, received 3,77,822 votes, it said. Congress candidate Mahesh Pathak got 28,084 votes.
Amartya Lahiri in an column for The Indian Express writes: The size of the mandate given to the NDA as well as the fact that it signals persistence in voter preference, possibly provides the new government with the breathing space and confidence to think long term in terms of its economic policies. The first term of the Narendra Modi government was, perhaps understandably, characterised by a strong focus on political consolidation. That goal has clearly been achieved. This result will hopefully energise the government to expend some of its considerable political capital on policies that may be politically difficult in the short run but will have large long-term economic benefits.
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Under Modi, the BJP shows an appetite for power not diminished by being in power. And an ability to constantly remake its message, add layers to the party’s appeal. In the beginning, was the call for Hindu consolidation, by a party that pledges to protect and propagate Hindu interests, through the proposed amendments to the Citizenship Bill, or even more strikingly, and troublingly, by the candidature of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, accused in a terror case, out on bail. But that was not all. Read more here
Newly elected BJP MPs likely to meet on Saturday, party passes resolution hailing Prime Minister Modi. While, Congress Working Committee is likely to meet in Delhi on May 25. (Agencies)
PM Modi thanked Lata Mangeshlar who in a tweet congratulated Modi on his victory. Modi said, "This congratulatory message is priceless to me. Your blessings encourage me to work harder and more diligently for the hundred and thirty crore countrymen."
Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan wins from Rampur seat, defeats BJP's Jaya Prada by over one lakh votes. (PTI)
Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling's era ends in Sikkim, rival Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) party secures majority. (PTI)
US president Donald Trump, congratulated Modi and BJP on their electoral victory, and hoped that they could 'continue their important work together'.
PM Modi thanked Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had earlier tweeted a congratulatory message on Mod-led BJP's mammoth victory in the parliamentary polls.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, in a tweet, accepted the verdict of the people of India and congratulated Modi-led NDA on their victory.
Actor and BJP candidate Sunny Deol Thursday won his electoral debut by defeating Congress heavyweight and sitting MP Sunil Jakhar from the Gurdaspur constituency. Deol defeated Punjab Congress chief Jakhar by a margin of 82,459 votes, the Election Commission's website said.
Union Minister Maneka Gandhi won from Sultanpur seat defeating nearest rival BSP candidate Chandra Bhadra Singh Sonu by over 14,000 votes. Maneka had faced backlash for her remark that she won't provide job to Muslims if they don't vote for her. She was barred from campaigning for two days by the Election Commission over the remark.
BJP president Amit Shah was Thursday night declared elected from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 5.57 lakh votes against his nearest Congress rival C J Chavda. Shah polled 8.94 lakh votes, while Chavda secured 3.37 lakh votes.
In the 2014 general elections, BJP veteran L K Advani, 91, had won the seat.
Senior Congress leader and the Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mallikarjun Kharge lost the Lok Sabha Elections from Gulbarga to BJP's Umesh Jadhav.
DP president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Thursday lost the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat to National Conference's Justice (retd) Hasnain Masoodi by nearly 10,000 votes. Masoodi, who was fighting his maiden electoral battle, polled 40,180 votes, while Mehbooba secured 30,524 votes, officials said.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "historic" win of the NDA in the Lok Sabha election and asserted that his party fielded "very good" candidates on all the seats and he accepts the people's mandate.
"I congratulate Sh Narendra Modi for this historic win and look forward to working together for the betterment of the people of Delhi," Kejriwal tweeted.
In his victory speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated that there will be only two castes in the country -- the poor and those contributing to alleviate poverty.
Taking a dig at the opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said a single party tried to mislead the country in the name of secularism in the 17th Lok Sabha elections.
After BJP's resounding victory in the 17th Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing party cadres at BJP headquarters, thanked his party workers for the BJP's stupendous victory. He said this is the highest voter turnout India has seen and added that world will have to recognise India's democratic strength.
Stating that the BJP has got more than 50 per cent votes in 17 states, BJP president Amit Shah said: "This is a victory of 'sabka saath sabka vikas' over parties who supported 'tukde tukde' gang."
Reflecting on BJP's historic victory, BJP president Amit Shah said: "I express my gratitude to people of India for giving a historic mandate to the Modi sarkar. This is a victory of Narendra Modi's popularity."
As the BJP marched towards a grand victory in the Lok Sabha elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday said alert voters have rejected the "opportunistic and casteist" politics of mahagathbandhan forged by the opposition parties. "It is high time for the opposition to introspect and shun politics of negativity," Adityanath told PTI in his first interview after trends showed massive gains for the BJP. PTI
DMK president M K Stalin thanked the people of Tamil Nadu for giving his party a resounding victory.
Reports of resignation of Rahul Gandhi as Congress President are mischievous and incorrect. When asked a question in the press conference today about affixation of responsibility post defeat, Rahul Gandhi said, “Its between me and the party and me and the CWC”
Rahul Gandhi: "I respect the mandate of the people and congratulate Narendra Modi for his victory. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Congress cadres."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated BJP cadres for the party's stupendous victory and said the success would inspire them to work even harder to fulfill people's aspirations.
Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat is witnessing a close contest between BJP's sitting MP Satyapal Singh and RJD candidate Jayant Chaudhary.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for his resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections 2019.
Reacting on the BJP's massive victory, Gautam Gambhir took a dig at his East Delhi rivals Atishi and Arvinder Singh Lovely and said his party won't fail people's choice.
SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal joins celebration at his home in Mukatsar as NDA is on course for a second term in power. Punjab, however, seems to be bucking the Modi wave with the Congress continuing to maintain the lead over eight of the state's 13 parliamentary constituencies. SAD was leading on just two seats, Ferozepur and Bathinda, where party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal are contesting, respectively, as per the Election Commission trends. (Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh)
"Heartiest congratulations to Narendrabhai Modi for steering BJP towards this unprecedented victory in elections. Amitbhai Shah as BJP President & all dedicated workers of the party have put in enormous effort in making sure that BJP's message reaches every voter. It's such a wonderful feeling that in a country as large & diverse as India, electoral process has been so successfully completed & for that, my compliments to the electorate & all the agencies involved. May our great nation be blessed with a bright future ahead," Advani said.
Congress' Mumbai-North Lok Sabha seat candidate Urmila Matondkar is trailing against BJP's Gopal Shetty by over 4 lakh votes.