India’s General Election

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       Early Election Results Suggest Sharp Turnaround for Indian National Congress India’s beleaguered main opposition party was on track to surpass expectations and nearly double its share of parliamentary seats from 2019.

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       Congress party supporters celebrating at the party headquarters during vote counting in New Delhi on Tuesday.Credit...Atul Loke for The New York Times

       By Sameer Yasir

       Reporting from New Delhi

       June 4, 2024, 7:21 a.m. ET

       In India’s last general election, in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party won 303 of 543 parliamentary seats — nearly six times as many as the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress. It was a stinging electoral blow for the Congress, a once-dominant party that has appeared greatly diminished in recent years, and exit polls in this year’s election had not suggested it would fare much better.

       But early election results on Tuesday indicated a far stronger showing than expected for the Congress. The party and its allies were leading in nearly 230 races, a sharp turnaround that prompted jubilation at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, where supporters erupted in cheers each time a television channel announced a new lead for one of its candidates.

       “Whatever the final results, one thing is clear — it is a moral victory for Congress and our leader Rahul Gandhi, and defeat for B.J.P.,” said Robin Michael, a political worker, referring to Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

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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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