Former Pakistani ambassador, journalist and academic, Husain Haqqani, has heaped praises on Indian elections and its democracy. He said it is hard not to be impressed by the magnitude of the elections.
“It is hard not to be impressed by the magnitude of India’s democracy. 44-day election exercise, 900 million eligible voters, 640 million ballots cast (half of them by women), 67% turnout, 1.1 million polling booths, 5.5 million electronic voting machines” he said in a post on social media.
Haqqani, separately, in an op-ed in The Hill, said that the results surprised everyone, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While he will form the government again, he will have to do so with the support of coalition partners, said Haqqani. He pointed out that Modi has never headed a coalition government.
In the op-ed he said that Indian voters showed some weariness of Modi and BJP’s self-assuredness since their win in 2019. Democracy can apply self-correction mechanisms successfully, he said.
Pakistan, like most of the world media, has mostly assessed the Lok Sabha election 2024 outcome as an indication of change, due to the weakened mandate. Pakistani media outlet, Dawn, for instance, said: ‘India defeats hate, Modi left at mercy of Muslim-friendly allies’. ‘Modi claims victory in India's election but drop in support forces him to rely on coalition partners’, said Dunya News, while Pakistan Observer said ‘Modi alliance heading to majority but no landslide’.
Meanwhile the ruling NDA has unanimously elected Narendra Modi as its leader, and are scheduled to swear-in on Saturday. A day after the results were declared, NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc held simultaneous meetings.
TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, LJP(R) leader Chirag Paswan, JD(S) leader H D Kumarawamy, Jana Sena's Pawan Kalyan, AGP's Atul Bora and NCP's Praful Patel, BJP leaders Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and J P Nadda were all present in the NDA meeting.
On the other hand the INDIA bloc has said that they would continue their fight against Modi’s “fascist” rule, and form the opposition as the mandate has gone to NDA. Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi NCP (SCP) president Sharad Pawar, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Sharad Pawar, Sitaram Yechury, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Champai Soren, Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh, D Raja and Sanjay Raut, said the grouping will continue to fight against BJP.
The BJP won 240 seats, and along with NDA took their tally to 293 in the 543-member house. Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc, that made remarkable gains this time, bagged 234 seats.
The NDA MPs will meet on June 7 to formally elect Modi as their leader, and then meet President Droupadi Murmu to submit their letters of support.