India’s General Election

       Modi Claims 3rd Term Results Takeaways A Rahul Gandhi Comeback? The New Kingmakers Climate Challenges

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       Rahul Gandhi, Long on the Ropes, Looks Set for an Unexpected Comeback

       The Indian National Congress and its leader registered a far stronger showing in India’s elections than many expected.

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       Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday. “He has finally arrived,” one analyst said, citing a substantial gain in vote share for the opposition.Credit...Altaf Qadri/Associated Press

       By Sameer Yasir

       Reporting from New Delhi

       June 5, 2024, 11:33 a.m. ET

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       Just last year, Rahul Gandhi and the once-powerful party he led, the Indian National Congress, seemed to be on the ropes and little threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s consolidation of political power.

       Congress had not been a competitive factor in national elections in years, winning fewer and fewer votes each time Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party was elected. And Mr. Gandhi himself had been convicted on a slander charge and barred from holding a seat in Parliament.

       But on Tuesday, Mr. Gandhi and a broad opposition coalition led by his Congress party registered a far stronger showing than expected in India’s elections, setting the stage for an unlikely comeback.

       “He has finally arrived,” said Rasheed Kidwai, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, a think tank in New Delhi. “This time he has improved his vote share by at least 17 million votes, which is very substantial.”

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       On Wednesday, Mr. Modi’s party announced that it had reached an agreement to form a governing coalition, including two parties that do not necessarily share its vision. Congress won 99 seats in the 543-seat Parliament, a gain of 47 seats, and the alliance of which it is the leading part won a total of 232.

       Congress and its alliance of over two dozen political groups have presented the results as a “moral victory” over a B.J.P. government that they say was trying to change the country’s Constitution and have portrayed as anathema to India’s identity as a multifaith and secular country.

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       Sameer Yasir covers news from India and other countries in the region. He is based in New Delhi. More about Sameer Yasir

       See more on: Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi

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