New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a super-sized victory for a second term in office, as his message of nationalism, security, Hindu pride and a New India was wholeheartedly embraced by voters across the country.
The BJP got an absolute majority bagging 272 of the 458 seats, results of which were declared past midnight and was on course to touch the 300-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
Leading in another 31 seats, the BJP is set to surpass its 2014 performance when it won 282 seats.
With the elections establishing the 68-year-old Modi as the most popular leader in decades, the BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance(NDA) are poised to clinch around 350 seats as against their previous 336.
Such was the force of the BJP wave that even Congress President Rahul Gandhi lost in his bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh to Smriti Irani, but in consolation prize won the Wayanad seat in Kerala.
Former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda also bit the dust when he lost the Tumkur seat in Karnataka where the BJP bagged 25 of the 28 seats.
After Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Modi is the third prime minister of the country and the first non-Congress politician who has been able to retain power for a second term with full majority in Lok Sabha.
The victory margin left the combined opposition in the dust, with the Congress Party topping the group winning or leading in 52 seats, according to the partial results.
Much like the 16th Lok Sabha in 2014, the lower house of the Parliament may be again bereft of the leader of opposition (LOP) since going by the available trends, the Congress may fall short of the 54-mark needed for the LOP status but marginally improve its all time low tally of 44 in 2014.
The euphoria of the victory was capped by a sombre speech by Modi in which he promised to devote "every moment of my life and every fibre of my body" to the welfare of the nation.
He also vowed that he will never do anything with ill-intention, nor will he do anything to enrich himself.
"Whenever you judge me, judge me on these three parameters. If I fall short on these, curse me. But I assure my countrymen that what I have said in public I will do my best to fulfil," he said.
Striking a conciliatory political tone, he also reached out to his rivals, urging everyone to put the rancour of the bitter and often nasty campaign behind them. What's past is past, he said.
"We have to move ahead. We have to take everyone with us, even our opponents. We have to work for the benefit of the country," he said.
"You have filled this fakir's bag with a lot of hope. All your hopes, dreams, ambitions are dependent on it," he told cheering partymen at BJP headquarters in the national capital.
Modi easily won his seat in Varanasi with a margin of over 4.5 lakh votes while party president Amit Shah took Gandhinagar in their home state of Gujarat by over 5.5 lakh votes.
"Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India. India wins yet again," he tweeted.
Modi and Shah arrived at the party headquarters to a rapturous welcome by supporters. Modi waved victory signs with both arms in the air as rose petals were showered on the duo, the two most powerful men in the country.
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