Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk: Senior BJP leader and Minority Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thanked the people on the BJP’s “big victory” in the Lok Sabha polls.
Riding on a massive Modi wave sweeping through most parts of India, the BJP was set to return to power as it led in 295 seats while the Congress trailed far behind with 50, according to trends released Thursday by the Election Commission for all 542 seats that went to polls.
प्रधान मंत्री जी @narendramodi – भारतीय जनता पार्टी को इतनी बड़ी विजय दिलाने के लिए आपका बहुत बहुत अभिनन्दन. मैं देशवासियों के प्रति हृदय से कृज्ञता व्यक्त करती हूँ.
— Chowkidar Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 23, 2019
With its allies, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance could win 343 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. In the last election, the NDA had 336 seats while BJP accounted for 282.
In the politically critical state of Uttar Pradesh, where the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party had posed a stiff challenge, the BJP was leading in 58 of the 80 seats at stake. The SP was ahead in eight and BSP in 11. The Congress Party was ahead only in one. Even, Congress President Rahul Gandhi was in a neck-and-neck race in Amethi with BJP’s Smriti Irani.
The results are a resounding endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity, his government’s achievements in the last five years and his campaign, which centred around national security and nationalism. He also relentlessly attacked the Congress Party for what he called its dynastic legacy and blamed it for the country’s woes.
