Heavy setback for Narendra Modi: Brinda Karat on BJP's tally in LS election

New Delhi [India], June 5 : CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat on Wednesday terms PM Modi led BJP party's inability to secure over 400 votes in the Lok Sabha election as a heavy setback for Narendra Modi.
She also added that if the BJP and its leaders consider the 2024 Lok Sabha election result a victory, then the people of India can give them such "victories" time and again.
"This is a heavy setback for Narendra Modi, his agenda, and the agenda of the RSS. Their ideas were not accepted by the people of India. Modi ji's guarantee did not work. BJP will now have to run a coalition government... BJP did not get a majority... If they consider this as a victory, then the people of India can give them such a victory time and again," Karat told ANI.
BJP fell 32 seats short of the 272 majority mark after votes polled in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were counted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured a third term, but the BJP will need to rely on the support of other parties in his coalition - JD (U) chief Nitish Kumar and TDP's chief Chandrababu Naidu.
Meanwhile, former Union Minister P Chidambaram hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party after the Lok Sabha election results stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "forfeited" his right to form a government and should "step down" from the leadership.
Attacking the BJP further, he said that a government under PM Modi "cannot tackle" the challenges of unemployment and price rise.
"In the best traditions of parliamentary democracy, the prime minister who led his party to a defeat must step down from the leadership. 240 seats (or so) won by the BJP is a resounding defeat for the party which went into the election with 303 seats and set for itself a target of 370 seats. Mr Narendra Modi has forfeited his right to form a government," Chidambaram posted on social media platform X.
"Mr Modi refused to acknowledge that the two topmost concerns of the people were 1) unemployment and 2) inflation. A government under Mr Modi cannot tackle the twin challenges of unemployment and price rise. Both became worse under the Modi regime," he added.
The counting of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was held on Tuesday.
According to the Election Commission of India, BJP won 240 seats, which came as a blow as the party-led alliance of NDA was eyeing '400 paar'. The Congress, on the other hand, registered a strong growth winning 99 seats. The INDIA bloc crossed the 230 mark, posing stiff competition, and defying all predictions.
For the first time, since the Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in 2014, it did not secure a majority on its own --- far fewer than the record 303 it won in the 2019 election.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people for the mandate and said BJP-led NDA will form its third successive government and that it is the victory of the resolve of Viksit Bharat, of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas' and of the strong faith of people in India's Constitution.
"On this sacred day, it is confirmed that NDA is forming the government for the third time. We are grateful to the people, they reposed full faith in the BJP, and NDA. This is the victory of the world's largest democracy, it is a victory of strong faith in India's Constitution, it is the victory of the resolve of Viksit Bharat. It is the victory of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas'," he said in his address at the BJP headquarters on Tuesday.