Celebrations had already begun at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in New Delhi before the full announcement of results.
The counting of votes is still underway and at 2222 hours on June 4, 2024. the BJP has won 211 seats, is leading in 29, and is 32 seats short of the 272 seats needed for a majority in the Lok Sabha.
Narendra D Modi delivered a victory speech a short while ago and announced that a National Democratic Alliance government would take office. As journalist Sreenivasan Jain pointed out on Prannoy Roy's election programme on YouTube, Dekoder.com, this was the first time that Modi had referred to the NDA in a victory speech; the acronym was absent in 2014 and 2019 when the BJP won a majority in the Lok Sabha on its own.
This time, the BJP will need the Telugu Desam's 16 seats and the Janata Dal-United's 12 seats -- apart from sundry other components of the NDA -- to cobble up the numbers for the President's scrutiny and approval.
IMAGE: BJP supporters throw flower petals on Narendra Modi as he arrives at the party headquarters in New Delhi, June 4, 2024. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
IMAGE: A Modi poster at the BJP's Gujarat headquarters in Gandhinagar. The poster reads, 'This time, over 400.' Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
IMAGE: BJP supporters celebrate outside the party headquarters in New Delhi, here and below. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
IMAGE: Congress supporters celebrate after learning about the election trends outside the party headquarters in New Delhi. Photograph: Priyanshu Singh/Reuters
IMAGE: A stall owner watches the election results in Ahmedabad. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
IMAGE: Samajwadi Party supporters in Lucknow celebrate the party winning 37 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. Photograph: Pawan Kumar/Reuters
IMAGE: Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra emerge after addressing a media interaction at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
IMAGE: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge speaks to Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi at a media interaction at the party's headquarters in New Delhi. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
IMAGE: Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi at the media interaction. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
IMAGE: Congress supporters at the party headquarters in New Delhi react to the election trends; the party won 99 Lok Sabha seats. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
IMAGE: A person waves the Congress flag at the party's headquarters in New Delhi. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
IMAGE: A supporter holds a cut-out of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party symbol with the image of DMK President M K Stalin during celebrations outside the party headquarters in Chennai. The DMK won 22 Lok Sabha seats. Photograph: Riya Mariyam Raju/Reuters
IMAGE: Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) supporters celebrate the party winning 9 Lok Sabha seats outside Sena Bhavan, here and below. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com