Why India’s election results bring hope, even in defeat

BJP won the vote, but its loss of a majority in the Lok Sabha signals that the politics of hate have a limit.

On Saturday, India’s six-week-long elections ended with polls projecting a landslide for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). BJP leaders, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had repeatedly made clear that their goal was to get 400 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, the lower chamber of the Indian Parliament. But the vote did not turn out so well for them.

On Tuesday, official results showed the BJP managed to win 240 seats, down 63 seats from the 2019 elections and causing the party to fall short of the majority it had retained over the past 10 years. With its allies, it will still be able to form the next government, but the Indian voters have clearly not given it the absolute mandate it wanted.

Instead, the people of India have given back meaning to democracy. They have reaffirmed that democracy is opposed to the complete dominance of one idea and one voice. They have demonstrated that in a multireligious and multicultural India, they do not accept the isolation of the followers of one religion and the mobilisation of the majority against them. They have given secular India hope that even under a new BJP government, there is potential for political change.

The election campaign season that got us here was extraordinary. Modi made the election about himself and his pursuit of absolute power. He was the face of the campaign, telling voters in every constituency he visited that they are voting for him and all candidates are but his representatives.

Modi also made his imperial ambitions clear. He styled himself as a Hindu emperor, trying to persuade the public that he was actually taking revenge for the