The Evening Wrap: NDA gets majority, opposition INDIA makes big gains

The BJP suffered stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states, poll results showed on June 4, forcing the party to rely on allies to form the government after a bitter and divisive election that was projected as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity. After 12 hours of counting of votes that began at 8 a.m., the BJP, whose candidates had contested in the name of Modi, won or was ahead in 240 seats to emerge as the single largest party, a far cry from the 303 it had won last time in the 543-member Lok Sabha to mark the return of coalition politics. BJP’s key allies N. Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) were leading or winning 16 and 12 seats in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar respectively. With the support of its other allies, the BJP-led NDA was on course to reach the 272 majority mark. The TDP also swept the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh dislodging Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge termed the poll outcome as the “victory of the people and that of democracy.” “We had been saying that this battle is between public and Modi...This mandate is against Modi. This is his political and moral defeat. It is a big defeat for a person who sought votes in his own name. He has suffered a moral setback,” Kharge told reporters at the AICC headquarters flanked by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi after the good showing by the Congress. Modi, who was on track to equal Jawaharlal Nehru’s record as the PM for a third consecutive term, will be dependent on allies to be in the government since he came into politics. In a post on X, Modi said, “I bow to the ‘Janata Janardan’ for this affection and assure them that we will continue the good work done in the last decade to keep fulfilling the aspirations of people.” Modi retained the Varanasi seat but with a reduced victory margin of nearly 1.53 lakh votes in Varanasi. In 2019, the margin was 4,79,505. NDA will take big decisions in third term, strike hard against corruption, Constitution our guiding light: PM Modi In his maiden speech after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections results were declared on June 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will continue to take big decisions in its third term and strike hard against corruption. Stating that Constitution of India is a “guiding light”, Modi said that “NDA has always worked to work for all sections of society and 25 crore people were pulled out of poverty which includes large number of SC (Scheduled Caste), ST (Scheduled Tribe) and OBC (Other Backward Classes) people.” Addressing the party workers at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, Modi said that this was the first time in six-decades that the government has returned to power a third time and the mandate is the victory of the biggest democracy in the world. He said BJP on its own has won more seats than all the Opposition parties combined. He acknowledged the contribution of women voters thanking them for imposing their faith in him. He added that women led development is at the centre of government’s policy and they will work to provide new opportunities for women. He said the voters of Jammu and Kashmir have shown unprecedented enthusiasm by voting in record numbers. “They have also shown a mirror to those who try to defame the nation. I salute the people of J&K on this occasion of victory,” he said. He thanked the BJP workers for toiling hard in excessive heat in the past two months. Besides conveying gratitude to Assembly election voters in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha, he thanked Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar for a stellar performance in Andhra Pradesh assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections respectively. “If India wants to stride ahead, it will have to strike hard on corruption. Digital India has curbed corruption, but the fight is getting harder. There are attempts to defend corruption, when they cross all limits of shamelessness to defend corruption, the thrust of the third term of NDA government will be to end corruption,” he said. Election results 2024: Nitish stands his ground in Bihar, emerges ‘kingmaker’ With the BJP falling way short of a majority in the Lok Sabha, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has emerged as a potential kingmaker with his party, the Janata Dal (United), having won two and leading in 10 Lok Sabha seats (till 7 p.m.) in the State on June 4. Contrary to poll predictions, the JD(U), which contested on 16 seats under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is poised to win more seats than expected. Given his history of changing sides at key political moments, Kumar has become the most sought-after political leader now. Another NDA member, the Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is expected to win all five seats it contested — Hajipur (reserved), Vaishali, Samastipur, Khagaria and Jamui (reserved). “It is a referendum on Mr. Kumar’s work for development in the State. He is vikas purush (development man) of the State for whom people have voted, reposed faith in him once again,” State JD(U) president Umesh Kushwaha said. However, Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) leader and Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha recalled the role Kumar had played in the formation of the INDIA bloc. “We’ve been formally in alliance with Nitish Kumar. We know he shares dislike for vendetta politics which the BJP stands for,” he said. A few days ago, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had spoken about “a big political development in Bihar after the June 4 Lok Sabha results”. JD(U) leaders told The Hindu that the party would remain with the NDA and attend the alliance meeting in New Delhi on June 5. Party spokesperson K. C. Tyagi said that “the party is with NDA and will continue to be with NDA”. Among the 40 seats in Bihar, NDA partner Rashtriya Lok Morcha’s leader Upendra Kushwaha lost the Karakat seat, while Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi won the Gaya (reserved) seat defeating Mahagathbandhan candidate Kumar Sarvajeet of the RJD. Election Results 2024: Exit polls bite the dust The exit polls for the Lok Sabha 2024 elections were way off the mark this time with the opposition INDIA bloc, whose rout they had predicted, touching nearly 230 seats on the counting day with good showing in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh as per the current trends. The performance of the BJP-led NDA was far below the forecast of exit polls, which had given the ruling alliance over 350 seats. At 9.45 p.m., the NDA was leading on more than 286 seats, while the INDIA bloc was close to achieving 201 seats. After being routed in the 2019 polls, the Congress made a comeback in states like Rajasthan and Haryana, while improving considerably in Uttar Pradesh courtesy of its ally Samajwadi Party. Published on June 1, all exit polls forecast a victory with over 350 seats for the BJP-led NDA government, with News 24-Today’s Chanakya predicting even 400 seats for the alliance. While India Today-Axis My India had forecast 361-401 seats for the BJP-led alliance and 131-166 seats for the opposition INDIA bloc in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the ABP-C Voter predicted 353-383 seats for the ruling alliance and 152-182 seats for the rival bloc. Today’s Chanakya predicted 335 seats to the BJP and 400 to the NDA, with a margin of 15 seats either way. It gave 107 seats to the opposition alliance with a possibility of its tally going up or down by 11 seats. The BJP had given the slogan of ‘400 paar’ for its alliance in the Lok Sabha polls. The Times Now-ETG Research’s exit poll gave 358 and 152 seats to the NDA and the INDIA bloc, respectively. The Republic TV-P Marq poll claimed that the ruling alliance will win up to 359 seats and the opposition INDIA bloc will bag 154 seats. The Republic TV-Matrize poll gave 353-368 seats to the NDA and 118-133 seats to the opposition. The Jan Ki Baat poll gave 362-392 seats to the ruling NDA and 141-161 to the opposition alliance. The India TV-CNX gave them 371-401 and 109-139 seats respectively, while the corresponding tally predicted by News Nation was 342-378 and 153-169. Porsche crash: 2 held for acting as middlemen between accused doctors and teen’s father Pune police on June 4 arrested two more persons in the Porsche car accident case for allegedly acting as middlemen and facilitating financial transactions between the accused doctors of Sassoon General Hospital and the father of the juvenile driver, an official said. Two IT professionals were killed in the early hours of May 19 in Kalyani Nagar in Pune after a Porsche allegedly being driven by a drunk 17-year-old rammed into their two-wheeler. The teen’s parents, Shivani and Vishal Agarwal, have been arrested in connection with a case involving the destruction of evidence. They are accused of tampering with the blood sample of the accused minor. Two doctors of the Sassoon General Hospital have also been arrested for allegedly manipulating the teen’s blood sample. The police have arrested Ashphak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad, who allegedly acted as middlemen between the father of the juvenile and the accused doctors and facilitated financial transactions, the official said. “Investigations revealed that the Makandar and Gaikwad acted as middlemen between the father and the accused doctors. They allegedly gave money to Atul Ghatkamble, an employee at the Sassoon General Hospital, to hand over to Dr Shrihari Halnor to swap the blood samples,” a senior official of the crime branch said. The duo allegedly gave 3 lakh Ghatkamble, he said. Dr. Ajay Taware, head of the department of forensic medicine at the Hospital also arrested in the case, was allegedly the main link between the duo and Dr. Halnor and Ghatkamble, the official said. During the probe, the police have already recovered Rs. 50 lakh from Ghatkamble and Rs. 2.5 lakh from Dr. Halnor. In Brief: The Supreme Court on June 4 did not give Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia bail in the Delhi liquor policy case. A Vacation Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta, however, gave Mr. Sisodia liberty to “revive” his plea for bail, afresh, as soon as the final chargesheet/prosecution complaint is filed by the CBI and ED, respectively, in the case. The court recorded an undertaking given by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for both the CBI and the ED, that the final chargesheet/prosecution complaint, signalling the completion of investigation in the excise policy case, would be filed in the trial court on or before July 3, 2024. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 04 June 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( BJP-led NDA gets majority, opposition INDIA makes big gains The [BJP suffered stunning losses]( in three Hindi heartland states, poll results showed on June 4, forcing the party to rely on allies to form the government after a bitter and divisive election that was projected as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity. After 12 hours of counting of votes that began at 8 a.m., the BJP, whose candidates had contested in the name of Modi, won or was ahead in 240 seats to emerge as the single largest party, a far cry from the 303 it had won last time in the 543-member Lok Sabha to mark the return of coalition politics. BJP’s key allies N. Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) were leading or winning 16 and 12 seats in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar respectively. With the support of its other allies, the BJP-led NDA was on course to reach the 272 majority mark. The TDP also swept the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh dislodging Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge termed the poll outcome as the “victory of the people and that of democracy.” “We had been saying that this battle is between public and Modi...This mandate is against Modi. This is his political and moral defeat. It is a big defeat for a person who sought votes in his own name. He has suffered a moral setback,” Kharge told reporters at the AICC headquarters flanked by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi after the good showing by the Congress. Modi, who was on track to equal Jawaharlal Nehru’s record as the PM for a third consecutive term, will be dependent on allies to be in the government since he came into politics. In a post on X, Modi said, “I bow to the ‘Janata Janardan’ for this affection and assure them that we will continue the good work done in the last decade to keep fulfilling the aspirations of people.” Modi retained the Varanasi seat but with a reduced victory margin of nearly 1.53 lakh votes in Varanasi. In 2019, the margin was 4,79,505. NDA will take big decisions in third term, strike hard against corruption, Constitution our guiding light: PM Modi In his maiden speech after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections results were declared on June 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will continue to take big decisions in its third term and strike hard against corruption. Stating that Constitution of India is a “guiding light”, Modi said that “NDA has always worked to work for all sections of society and 25 crore people were pulled out of poverty which includes large number of SC (Scheduled Caste), ST (Scheduled Tribe) and OBC (Other Backward Classes) people.” Addressing the party workers at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, Modi said that this was the first time in six-decades that the government has returned to power a third time and the mandate is the victory of the biggest democracy in the world. He said BJP on its own has won more seats than all the Opposition parties combined. He acknowledged the contribution of women voters thanking them for imposing their faith in him. He added that women led development is at the centre of government’s policy and they will work to provide new opportunities for women. He said the voters of Jammu and Kashmir have shown unprecedented enthusiasm by voting in record numbers. “They have also shown a mirror to those who try to defame the nation. I salute the people of J&K on this occasion of victory,” he said. He thanked the BJP workers for toiling hard in excessive heat in the past two months. Besides conveying gratitude to Assembly election voters in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha, he thanked Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar for a stellar performance in Andhra Pradesh assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections respectively. “If India wants to stride ahead, it will have to strike hard on corruption. Digital India has curbed corruption, but the fight is getting harder. There are attempts to defend corruption, when they cross all limits of shamelessness to defend corruption, the thrust of the third term of NDA government will be to end corruption,” he said. Election results 2024: Nitish stands his ground in Bihar, emerges ‘kingmaker’ With the BJP falling way short of a majority in the Lok Sabha, Bihar Chief Minister [Nitish Kumar has emerged as a potential kingmaker]( with his party, the Janata Dal (United), having won two and leading in 10 Lok Sabha seats (till 7 p.m.) in the State on June 4. Contrary to poll predictions, the JD(U), which contested on 16 seats under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is poised to win more seats than expected. Given his history of changing sides at key political moments, Kumar has become the most sought-after political leader now. Another NDA member, the Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is expected to win all five seats it contested — Hajipur (reserved), Vaishali, Samastipur, Khagaria and Jamui (reserved). “It is a referendum on Mr. Kumar’s work for development in the State. He is vikas purush (development man) of the State for whom people have voted, reposed faith in him once again,” State JD(U) president Umesh Kushwaha said. However, Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) leader and Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha recalled the role Kumar had played in the formation of the INDIA bloc. “We’ve been formally in alliance with Nitish Kumar. We know he shares dislike for vendetta politics which the BJP stands for,” he said. A few days ago, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had spoken about “a big political development in Bihar after the June 4 Lok Sabha results”. JD(U) leaders told The Hindu that the party would remain with the NDA and attend the alliance meeting in New Delhi on June 5. Party spokesperson K. C. Tyagi said that “the party is with NDA and will continue to be with NDA”. Among the 40 seats in Bihar, NDA partner Rashtriya Lok Morcha’s leader Upendra Kushwaha lost the Karakat seat, while Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi won the Gaya (reserved) seat defeating Mahagathbandhan candidate Kumar Sarvajeet of the RJD. Election Results 2024: Exit polls bite the dust The [exit polls for the Lok Sabha 2024 elections were way off the mark]( this time with the opposition INDIA bloc, whose rout they had predicted, touching nearly 230 seats on the counting day with good showing in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh as per the current trends. The performance of the BJP-led NDA was far below the forecast of exit polls, which had given the ruling alliance over 350 seats. At 9.45 p.m., the NDA was leading on more than 286 seats, while the INDIA bloc was close to achieving 201 seats. After being routed in the 2019 polls, the Congress made a comeback in states like Rajasthan and Haryana, while improving considerably in Uttar Pradesh courtesy of its ally Samajwadi Party. Published on June 1, all exit polls forecast a victory with over 350 seats for the BJP-led NDA government, with News 24-Today’s Chanakya predicting even 400 seats for the alliance. While India Today-Axis My India had forecast 361-401 seats for the BJP-led alliance and 131-166 seats for the opposition INDIA bloc in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the ABP-C Voter predicted 353-383 seats for the ruling alliance and 152-182 seats for the rival bloc. Today’s Chanakya predicted 335 seats to the BJP and 400 to the NDA, with a margin of 15 seats either way. It gave 107 seats to the opposition alliance with a possibility of its tally going up or down by 11 seats. The BJP had given the slogan of ‘400 paar’ for its alliance in the Lok Sabha polls. The Times Now-ETG Research’s exit poll gave 358 and 152 seats to the NDA and the INDIA bloc, respectively. The Republic TV-P Marq poll claimed that the ruling alliance will win up to 359 seats and the opposition INDIA bloc will bag 154 seats. The Republic TV-Matrize poll gave 353-368 seats to the NDA and 118-133 seats to the opposition. The Jan Ki Baat poll gave 362-392 seats to the ruling NDA and 141-161 to the opposition alliance. The India TV-CNX gave them 371-401 and 109-139 seats respectively, while the corresponding tally predicted by News Nation was 342-378 and 153-169. Porsche crash: 2 held for acting as middlemen between accused doctors and teen’s father [Pune police on June 4 arrested two more persons]( in the Porsche car accident case for allegedly acting as middlemen and facilitating financial transactions between the accused doctors of Sassoon General Hospital and the father of the juvenile driver, an official said. Two IT professionals were killed in the early hours of May 19 in Kalyani Nagar in Pune after a Porsche allegedly being driven by a drunk 17-year-old rammed into their two-wheeler. The teen’s parents, Shivani and Vishal Agarwal, have been arrested in connection with a case involving the destruction of evidence. They are accused of tampering with the blood sample of the accused minor. Two doctors of the Sassoon General Hospital have also been arrested for allegedly manipulating the teen’s blood sample. The police have arrested Ashphak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad, who allegedly acted as middlemen between the father of the juvenile and the accused doctors and facilitated financial transactions, the official said. “Investigations revealed that the Makandar and Gaikwad acted as middlemen between the father and the accused doctors. They allegedly gave money to Atul Ghatkamble, an employee at the Sassoon General Hospital, to hand over to Dr Shrihari Halnor to swap the blood samples,” a senior official of the crime branch said. The duo allegedly gave 3 lakh Ghatkamble, he said. Dr. Ajay Taware, head of the department of forensic medicine at the Hospital also arrested in the case, was allegedly the main link between the duo and Dr. Halnor and Ghatkamble, the official said. During the probe, the police have already recovered Rs. 50 lakh from Ghatkamble and Rs. 2.5 lakh from Dr. Halnor. In Brief: The Supreme Court on June 4 did not give [Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia]( bail in the Delhi liquor policy case. A Vacation Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta, however, gave Mr. Sisodia liberty to “revive” his plea for bail, afresh, as soon as the final chargesheet/prosecution complaint is filed by the CBI and ED, respectively, in the case. The court recorded an undertaking given by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for both the CBI and the ED, that the final chargesheet/prosecution complaint, signalling the completion of investigation in the excise policy case, would be filed in the trial court on or before July 3, 2024. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [Sign up for free]( Today’s Top Picks [[Watch: An Overview of Lok Sabha Election 2024] Watch: An Overview of Lok Sabha Election 2024]( [[Watch: Interpreting the Lok Sabha Results | Lok Sabha elections 2024] Watch: Interpreting the Lok Sabha Results | Lok Sabha elections 2024]( [[Watch: Shifts in Karnataka’s political landscape | Lok Sabha elections 2024] Watch: Shifts in Karnataka’s political landscape | Lok Sabha elections 2024]( [[Watch: Examining anti-incumbency sentiment against Jagan] Watch: Examining anti-incumbency sentiment against Jagan]( Copyright© 2024, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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