Bharatiya Janata Party Fails to Secure Majority in India’s 2024 Election

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed win a majority in India’s national elections. The results of the seven-phase election were released on Tuesday, June 4. According to the most recent figures, the ruling BJP has only won 240 odd seats out of a total of 543.

This would mean that, despite remaining the largest party in the Indian parliament, it would have to rely on coalition partners to create a government, as opposed to the past two administrations.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has captured around 290 seats, about 20 more than the majority mark of 272.

While the Congress-led center-left alliance opposing the ruling BJP and NDA failed to achieve a majority, it hailed the results as a moral victory. The Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance, or simply INDIA, secured approximately 230 seats. It still hopes to build a government in collaboration with other parties.

The left parties that were members of the INDIA coalition also boosted their representation in parliament, obtaining an anticipated eight seats, three more than the previous time.

Dissatisfaction with Bharatiya Janata Party

Speaking to the press, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi stated that the results demonstrate dissatisfaction with the BJP’s attempts to dismantle India’s constitution. The Congress leader described it as a loss for the BJP’s politics.

Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), stated that the election results will ensure that one-party “dictatorial” rule, atrocities against religious minorities, and attacks on India’s secular values and institutions will not go unchallenged because “there is a greater scope for popular resistance” now.

India held elections in seven phases between April 19 and June 1. More than 60% of eligible voters took part in these elections.
victory against the politics of hate and polarization

The center-left opposition parties accused the right-wing BJP of attempting to polarize voters along religious lines by demonizing minorities, particularly Muslims, and running the election on a religiously charged platform. Opposition leaders have said that the results thus far demonstrate that the center-left alliance was able to resist this decisive agenda by focusing on concerns of social justice and economic well-being for the people.

Threatening the opposition

In the most recent elections in 2019, the BJP alone won around 303 seats, with its allies accounting for approximately 350 seats. The Congress and other major parties were devastated, with fewer than 100 seats.

Since coming to power in 2014, the BJP central government has made significant modifications to India’s laws and constitution, which the opposition claims endanger India’s fundamental principles of diversity and tolerance. The BJP has also been accused of threatening the opposition and engaging in systematic prosecution of dissenting voices in the country.

Several opposition leaders and activists have remained in jail for years, some without a charge sheet or trial. The INDIA coalition has highlighted the country’s shrinking democratic space a key issue in the election, claiming the BJP of attempting to undermine the pluralist ideals of the Indian constitution.

Other important electoral themes raised by the opposition included worsening economic conditions for the majority of people, increased unemployment among the country’s educated youth, rising inequality, and rising prices.

The final findings should be available by late Tuesday night.

Source: Peoples Dispatch