Narendra Modi resigns from PM post amid NDA wins in Lok Sabha polls

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to take the oath of office for a third term on Saturday, making him the first leader to do so since Jawaharlal Nehru. Modi met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi to submit his resignation and that of his cabinet. He was subsequently asked to continue in his role until the swearing-in ceremony.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won 282 seats in 2014 and 303 in 2019, secured 240 seats this time, falling 32 seats short of the 272-majority mark. The party will now rely on the 53 seats won by its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners to secure a third term.

Modi retained his Lok Sabha seat in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, defeating Congress candidate Ajay Rai by less than 1.5 lakh votes, making him a three-time MP from the constituency. Earlier today, Modi chaired the final meeting of the Union Cabinet for this term, following his announcement that the NDA would form the government for a third time, calling the election results a "victory of the world's largest democracy."

The BJP had aimed for an ambitious target of 370 seats (400+ including NDA partners), but was challenged by the Congress-led INDIA bloc. The opposition secured 232 seats, outperforming expectations and reducing the BJP's advantage in key states.

Despite these challenges, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party again, with strong performances in Odisha (20 of 21 seats), Andhra Pradesh (21 of 25), Madhya Pradesh (29 of 29), and Bihar (30 of 40), which offset losses in other regions.

Notably, the BJP won its first-ever Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, indicating a potential shift in its southern strategy. While the BJP doubled its tally in Telangana to eight seats, it did not win any seats in Tamil Nadu for the second consecutive election, with the ruling DMK and INDIA bloc allies sweeping all 39 seats.