ISAS Insights

The results of the general elections in India were a surprise to most people. While most opinion polls had predicted a victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that it leads, not even BJP members had anticipated the scale of the party's victory. The BJP alone has won 282 seats and the NDA 336 out of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament). Two things stand out in the verdict. This is the first time in 30 years that a party won a majority on its own; this is also the worst-ever showing by India's grand old party, the Indian National Congress, which won a mere 44 seats, 70 less than its previous all-time low in 1999.