BJP's loss of parliamentary majority prompts introspection

Party must rely on allies to form government, but not all of them aligned with its ideology

- Nirmala Ganapathy

Indian caretaker Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to start a rare third term in power, but the mood within his party is not all celebratory.

Far from the 370-plus-seat landslide win it had expected, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clinched just 240 - 32 short of a majority in the general election results declared on June 4.

Unlike its first two terms in 2014 and 2019, the BJP for the first time needs to rely on its allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which won 52 seats, to form and run the government.

And, for a start, not all the allies are aligned with the BJP's Hindu nationalist ideology.

The BJP will also have to contend with a strong opposition in Parliament, where the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance holds 233 out of 543 elected seats.

"There was initial shock (over the results)," said a BJP leader who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We set a high bar and aimed for the moon but landed on the roof." This narrow victory has sent tremors through the BJP, which enjoyed a decade of outright majority that allowed Mr Modi to push through longstanding promises to its supporters, such as removing the special status for Muslim-majority Kashmir in 2019.

There is now speculation of changes within the party as the term of its president, Mr J.P. Nadda, is coming to an end in June.

The party is in a state of introspection over whether mistakes were made in candidate selections and if the induction of politicians from other parties demotivated the cadres.