Raveendran—AFP
BJP projected to win first parliamentary majority by a single party in 30 years.
India’s ruling Congress party conceded defeat on Friday after 10 years in power as early election results showed a landslide win for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under hardline leader Narendra Modi.
“We accept defeat. We are ready to sit in the opposition,” senior Congress leader and spokesman Rajeev Shukla told reporters at party headquarters in New Delhi. “Modi promised the moon and stars to the people. People bought that dream,” he added.
The announcement followed media projections, based on preliminary results, that the BJP was on track to win the first parliamentary majority by a single party in India in 30 years.
NDTV and CNN-IBN forecast the BJP would win 272 out of 543 seats in parliament on its own, with the rightwing BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coalition set to score between 316 and 328 seats.
“This is the beginning of change, a people’s revolution and the start of a new era,” said senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar from party headquarters in Delhi where celebrations broke out hours after counting began.