India votes for NaMo again. BJP-led NDA gets bigger mandate than 2014

Battling the incumbency factor and the vitriol in mainstream and social media bordering on personal attacks, the NDA under Modi’s leadership staged a remarkable encore not seen in recent times.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters wearing masks of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi dance as they celebrate on the vote results day for India's general election at BJP office in Guwahati on May 23, 2019. PIC/AFP.

New Delhi: In the world’s most vibrant democracy comes another day in which Narendra Modi helming a party has made it again. While pollsters have been broadly unanimous about the return to power of the NDA, the scale and magnitude of its victory across the length and breadth of the country has been unprecedented. The numbers on counting day May 23 were right on target that meant the BJP has secured the clear mandate, this time a notch higher than 2014 courtesy the pro-incumbency wave. Right from the front was Narendra Modi who was leading stupendously from Varanasi. A thriller is, however, being witnessed in the high-profile seat of Amethi where Rahul Gandhi and Smriti Irani and locked in a bitter battle. The states BJP are ahead in  The Modi wave not only swept through the Hindi heartland, Maharashtra and Gujarat, as was expected, but made a spectacular headway through West Bengal, Odisha, and Karnataka. The trends indicated that only Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh appeared untouched. Even in Telangana, where it was expected to fare poorly, the BJP was ahead in four seats, the same as the Telangana Rashtra Samiti. The Congress suffered a major setback as controversial BJP candidate Sadhvi Pragya is seen to be going to the Parliament by maintaining a heavy lead over Congress’ Digvijay Singh. The BJP along with its ally Shiv Sena was ahead in 44 of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra.  In Mumbai-North, BJP's Gopal Shetty established a lead of 94,267 votes over Congress' candidate Urmila Matondkar. The Congress wasn't able to consolidate the assembly wins in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and was seen trailing in both the states. Union minister Nitin Gadkari was leading by 3066 votes in Nagpur and is said to have spoken to PM Narendra Modi by congratulating him for the phenomenal show.

#ABPresults2019 - Congress routed again in almost states. People have rejected their negative politics. People have voted for neta, neeti, niyat and the results are in front of you: BJP's Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya to ABP News

WATCH: https://t.co/DklVA2kRqn pic.twitter.com/uPAnFh1eBl — ABP News (@abpnewstv) May 23, 2019

BJP's performance was to an extent subdued in Uttar Pradesh as the Mahagathbandhan led in 22 seats but it wasn't enough to shock the saffron party. BJP+ was ahead in 57 seats in the largest state of the country which sends the most number of parliamentarians to Lok Sabha. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also ensured the victory of BJP candidate and Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan. Priyanka Gandhi factor also has not worked which could worry the Congress even more as it is again on its was to become the principal Opposition party. In Bihar as well, the saffron party along with its partner JDU was ahead in 38 of the 40 seats. The Congress-RJD alliance was measly ahead in 2 seats, which again could pose as a rude shock to Lalu & family.  Union Minister Giriraj Singh is also ahead with more than 15,000 votes over rival candidate Kanhaiya Kumar of the Left. Battling the incumbency factor and the vitriol in mainstream and social media bordering on personal attacks, the NDA under Modi’s leadership staged a remarkable encore not seen in recent times. Its victories have not been confined to the Hindi heartland but extended south of the Vindhyas and towards the East, it has made a serious dent into West Bengal and consolidated its pole position in the North East and central India. Lok Sabha Election Results 2019: Sushma Swaraj congratulates PM Modi for 'big win' Surge in Southern India The atrophy and infighting in AIADMK was the bellweather of how the voting behaviour would be in the Lok Sabha elections. The DMK appeared to be leading in 25 of the 38 seats. Celebrations also beagan in earnest outside DMK headquarters in Chennai. Making massive inroads in Karnataka, the BJP was seen racing ahead of the ruling Congres-JDS coalition by leading in 23 out of total 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, according to the Election Commission trends. Rahul Gandhi, who many say chose a safe seat, was leading in Wayanad constituency by a mamoth margin of 1,09,612 votes. Congress led-UDF is leading in 18 out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala.  The YSR Congress has performed splendidly and is on course of making a clean sweep of the Lok Sabha seats with the party leading in all 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh. It was also ahead in 143 of the 175 assembly constituencies. The TDP, BJP and Congress are nowhere to be seen in the picture. Successful Look East policy As per the trends, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidates were leading in 12 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha while the BJP was ahead in nine constituencies. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the true sense came across as the prime challenger to Trinamool Congress as it was leading in 16 seats, while Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress was ahead in 25 of the 42 seats in the state. Union Minister & BJP candidate Babul Supriyo is leading in Asansol constituency by 54, 984 votes against Moon Moon Sen of the TMC. Getting into the double digits in Bengal will boost the morale of the BJP workers who have tirelessly made the improbable scenario actually come to happen. Delhi again gets saffron coated, Punjab votes for Congress It’s a repeat of 2014 in the national capita. BJP is said to be leading the trends in all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, with the Congress trailing in five constituencies and the AAP in two seats.Debutant Gautam Gambhir, Union minister Harsh Vardhan and sitting lawmaker Manoj Tiwari of the Bharatiya Janata Party were among those leading in their respective constituencies. In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP is seen leading in all the four seats.  Despite the fissures within the party in Punjab, the Congress was successful in leading in eight parliamentary constituencies of the state while the Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP were ahead in two Lok Sabha seats each. Narendra Modi redux The mandate shows that the voters have not reposed faith on the Congress-led UPA or the regional parties yet again. The probability of an unstable government at the Centre was why the non-BJP front was outrightly rejected. The markets have cheered the victory by shooting the various indices to record levels. As the BJP starts its second innings, it is also a time for reflection. If the first term was one of statements, rhetoric and promises and fewer deliveries, the second the country hopes will would be more action-oriented. It is time to walk the talk on job creation, justice to the common man and ease agrarian distress.