This is how foreign media reacted to India's 2024 Lok Sabha poll results

Election results 2024: Most foreign press noted that Narendra Modi's third term will be riddled with challenges as the party has failed to cross the majority mark single-handedly

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) emerged as the largest coalition in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, surpassing the majority threshold of 272 seats. However, the BJP itself did not achieve its target of securing 370 seats independently and over 400 seats with its allies.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the BJP, aiming for a third consecutive term and its third straight single-party majority, won 240 seats. This placed the BJP significantly ahead of the Congress, the main opposition party, which secured 99 seats. However, the BJP’s tally decreased by 63 seats compared to 2019, having won 282 seats in 2014. In contrast, the Congress gained 55 and 47 more seats than it did in 2014 and 2019, respectively.

 

The international media, which was keeping a close watch on the Indian General Elections majorly agreed that PM Modi’s third term may be full of challenges as it no longer enjoys a brute majority, which may result in some difficulties in a few bills getting passed.

Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections Results 2024: Here's the full list of winners

Here's how foreign media reacted:

Washington Post: The American national daily Washington Post described the result as an “unexpected repudiation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, noting “tepid support for his Hindu nationalist party, piercing the air of invincibility around the most dominant Indian politician in decades”. 

It further stated, “Such a result would be a rare setback for an Indian politician who has never failed to secure a majority in state or national elections over a 23-year political career and cultivated an image as a popular strongman and a serial winner. Most analysts expected him to easily brush aside India’s enervated and poorly funded opposition parties, some of which had their bank accounts frozen, and their leaders jailed by the government in the run-up to the election.”

New York Times: Another renowned American national daily The New York Times headlined its coverage with “India’s Election Results Suggest a Setback for Modi”, stating, “The aura of invincibility around Narendra Modi has been shattered…. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party was poised to lose its parliamentary seat in Ayodhya on Tuesday. It was part of a sweeping electoral setback across Uttar Pradesh state, India’s most populous, where early results showed the B.J.P. was set to fall nearly 30 seats short of its tally in the last general election in 2019.”

Dawn: The Pakistan-based media portal Dawn reported the results under the headline “India vote count shows Modi alliance winning surprisingly narrow majority,” noting, “BJP concedes defeat in Ayodhya where Ram Temple was inaugurated; Rahul Gandhi says voters have punished BJP”. 

The report highlighted the shock of BJP losing the Faisalabad seat in Uttar Pradesh, home to the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.

Financial Times: The British national daily Financial Times headlined an article with “India election strips Narendra Modi of his ‘aura of invincibility’. The British news organisation commented, “The results would be a return to coalition politics. Many Indians had expected a clear Modi victory in an election seen as a referendum on his decade in office and a campaign focused largely on his personality."

BBC: Another British broadcaster BBC noted, “The results are a personal blow to Mr Modi, who has always secured majorities in elections as both chief minister of Gujarat state and India’s prime minister, and dominated the country’s politics for a decade. The verdict marks a surprising revival for the Congress Party-led INDIA opposition alliance, defying earlier predictions of its decline, and sharply diverging from both exit polls and pre-election surveys.

Furthermore, it added, “Supporters claim he is a strong, efficient leader who has delivered on promises. Critics allege his government has weakened federal institutions, cracked down on dissent and press freedom, and that India’s Muslim minority feels threatened under his rule.”

South China Morning Post: Hong Kong-based news platform South China Morning Post reported, “Modi claims victory but his BJP needs a coalition to stay in power, as opposition makes gains,” adding, “Narendra Modi has claimed victory in India’s general election, even as official results early on Wednesday showed the prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell short of securing a majority and would require the support of smaller regional allies to return to power in a coalition.” 

The report also noted that the BJP lost ground in its stronghold states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, and faced unexpected losses in Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Al Jazeera: Qatar-based Al Jazeera’s headline read, “Modi-led BJP loses majority in big setback”. The news organisation mentioned, “Modi and his party are still likely to be able to form India’s next government — but will be dependent on a clutch of allies whose support they will need to cross the 272-seat mark. The BJP with its allies, in a coalition known as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), was projected to win around 282 seats…”

“There will be challenges coming in the parliament. There will be bills that will have to be passed, and there is bound to be a great amount of compromise that he will have to make. In the past, when he had a brute majority, he would not be compromising. He always projected himself as somebody very strong who will not compromise,” it further said.