India’s Modi-led NDA alliance says to form next government

India’s Hindu nationalist party of Narendra Modi has agreed with allies to form a new government after a general election in which it failed to secure an outright majority for the first time in a decade.

The 15-member National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition, led by Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has 293 seats in parliament, giving it control of the legislature.

"We all unanimously choose respected NDA leader Narendra Modi as our leader," a BJP-issued alliance said in a statement on Wednesday.

It said the NDA government would "preserve India's heritage" and work for the "all-round development of the country."

Election results released Tuesday upended conventional wisdom throughout the six-week election that Modi's Hindu nationalist agenda would power him to a landslide win.

Analysts said Modi's reliance on coalition partners means he faces the prospect of a far tougher-than-expected third term.

Indian media reports said Modi would be sworn in as prime minister on Saturday.

'Strong opposition'

Rival China congratulated Modi earlier on Wednesday and said it was "ready to work" with its neighbor, while Japan also applauded the win.

Modi, 73, insisted on Tuesday night that the election results were a victory that ensured he would continue his agenda.

"Our third term will be one of big decisions and the country will write a new chapter of development," Modi told a crowd of cheering supporters in the capital New Delhi after his win. "This is Modi's guarantee."

Some newspapers offered a less exhilarated view.

"India cuts Modi down," The Telegraph daily, from the opposition stronghold state of West Bengal, splashed across its front page.

"Coalition Karma," read the headline of India's Mint newspaper.

The BJP secured 240 seats in parliament, well down on the 303 from five years ago and 32 seats short of a majority on its own.

The main opposition Congress party won 99 seats in a remarkable turnaround, almost doubling its 2019 tally of 52.

Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said the result was a vote against Modi "and the substance and style of his politics."

"It is a huge political loss for him personally apart from being a clear moral defeat as well," he told party leaders at a meeting of the opposition alliance.

Commentators and exit polls had projected an overwhelming victory for Modi, who critics have accused of leading the jailing of opposition figures and trampling on the rights of India's 200-million-plus Muslim community.

In a personal sting, Modi was re-elected to his constituency representing the Hindu holy city of Varanasi with a far lower margin of 152,300 votes. That compared with nearly half a million votes five years ago.

'Fight against Modi to continue'

Following the BJP announcement, the Congress Party, which has formed the main opposition alliance, said it will continue to fight Modi’s rule.

“The INDIA bloc will continue will fight against the fascist rule of the BJP led by PM Modi. We will take the appropriate steps at the appropriate time to realize the people's desire not to be ruled by the BJP's govt,” said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Modi's opponents fought against a well-oiled and well-funded BJP campaign machine, and what they say are politically motivated criminal cases aimed at hobbling challengers.

Many of India's Muslim minority are increasingly uneasy about the future and their community's place in the constitutionally secular country. Modi himself made several strident comments about Muslims on the campaign trail, referring to them as "infiltrators."

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