In an extraordinary finish to a hard-fought election, Narendra Modi created history by leading the BJP to a simple majority in the Lok Sabha, the party’s first since its birth in 1980.

Voters demolished caste and community barriers by crossing en masse to the BJP, helping the party win in as many as 282 constituencies, ten above the half-way mark of 272 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

The results were phenomenal not just in giving the BJP its first clear victory in a general election but in humiliating the ruling Congress, which was reduced to its lowest-ever tally of just about 45 seats. It was also the first time in as many as 30 years since the Congress’s landslide victory in 1984 that any single party has been able to get a majority in the House of the People.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a coalition of 25 parties, has stacked up a whopping count of 339 seats. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was seen to be winning in just about 58 seats, till late in the evening.

Modi celebrated the momentous day by visiting his mother and addressing a festive gathering of supporters in Vadodara, a constituency he won by a whopping 5,70,128 votes. “Vadodara has given me a margin of 5.7 lakh votes even after I spent only 50 minutes after filing nomination here… It is the first time after Independence that a non-Congress party has been given a majority on its own,” a visibly elated Modi told his cheering supporters.

Breaking all barriers He had reasons to celebrate. The Modi wave seems to have swept across caste barriers and regional lines, fetching the party an unexpected jump in vote share across central, western and northern India. The BJP won all 26 seats in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, all 25 seats in Rajasthan, 27 of the 29 in Madhya Pradesh and all seven seats in Delhi.

But its most spectacular performance was registered in Uttar Pradesh, where, under the leadership of Modi confidante and BJP general secretary Amit Shah, NDA grabbed 73 of the 80 seats. It wiped out Dalit leader Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and left the ruling Samajwadi Party with just five seats.

The Congress’s first family was jolted in its pocket borough with the BJP’s Smriti Irani taking the lead over Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in the initial phases of counting. Although the Congress Vice-President won eventually, the margin of his victory was much narrower this time.

“I want to particularly thank the people of Uttar Pradesh, who have given the BJP a lead in as many as 73 seats. I am a little disheartened by the fact that the two seats that the Congress seems to be winning and the five that are going the SP way are all being won by members of particular families,” said Amit Shah.

A sour taste in the victory celebrations was the defeat of party stalwart Arun Jaitley in Amritsar. Sushma Swaraj, on the other hand, won in Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh) by over 4 lakh votes.

Modi will arrive in Delhi on Saturday for a meeting of the BJP’s top decision-making body, the parliamentary board. Describing the elections as a “heartfelt vote” for Modi, BJP president Rajnath Singh said that despite the party getting a majority on its own, allies will be given due space in the government.

“Credibility is all that counts in politics. Our friends who joined us before the elections will be given their due space and dignity,” Singh said.

The Congress was not able to open its account in as many as seven states. Its tally did not cross the double digit mark in any of the states. “It is a vote for Modi. We are the first party besides the Congress in the history of independent India to secure a majority in the Lok Sabha. We will try to meet the people’s expectations and deliver a government that matches up to the mandate,” said the BJP president.

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