India election results: Which allies does Modi depend on now?

Modi now relies on a series of parties that have flip-flopped between his alliance and the opposition over the years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he will form the next government for the third term, but he would need the support of allies after his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell short of the majority mark for the first time since 2014.

The BJP secured 240 seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower House of the parliament, in a major electoral setback as the poll survey had projected the Hindu nationalist party to win by a bigger majority.

Parties from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP have won 53 seats. Taken together the NDA has a strength of 293 – 21 seats more than the 272 mark needed to form the government.

The NDA allies, many of whom have a history of flip-flops, convened for a meeting on Wednesday, after which they backed the BJP and Modi to lead the next government.

Here’s more about the biggest NDA allies and their history of alliance with the BJP in the past.