Modi’s Party Fails To Win Outright Majority In India

Ashok Malik, a partner at the Asia Group, says the election shows democracy is “alive and kicking” in India and voters “have a mind of their own, and they’re willing to speak their minds,” Antoinette Radford reported for CNN.

It was widely expected that the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi would win a majority in the election, but the opposition Congress party has performed much better than anticipated. I Photo: Narendra Modi Facebook

It was widely expected that the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi would win a majority in the election, but as vote counting gets underway, the opposition Congress party has performed much better than anticipated.

Speaking to CNN from New Delhi, Malik says the likely key takeaway was that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) likely overestimated itself.

They believed in their own propaganda. “The overall overarching message would probably be that the BJP was taken in by its own over-confidence, tripped up by its own over-confidence.”

This election has been a fight not only against Prime Minister Narendra Modi but "to save India's constitution," the leader of India's main opposition, Rahul Gandhi, said after early shock results began to emerge.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) illegally tried to hijack all government institutions. They broke parties, arrested leaders," the face of the Indian National Congress told reporters.

"People believed that if Modi gets another chance, he would attack the constitution and democracy… This conspiracy of the BJP has been unsuccessful," Antoinette Radford, Esha Mitra, and Rhea Mogul reported for CNN.