Modi's BJP lost a majority of seats in the Indian elections

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost its majority in the national parliament after heavy losses in key states, marking a major shift in the political landscape that has dominated the country for the past decade.

The BJP easily emerged as the largest national party in the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of parliament. As election officials in India counted 640 million votes in one day on Tuesday, after six weeks of elections, the BJP suffered a heavy loss compared to its victories in 2014 and 2019.

Unlike both elections where the BJP won a majority of seats on its own, it ended up getting 240 seats in the 543-seat assembly, while the number needed to get an absolute majority is 272 seats.

On the contrary, the opposition Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance for short INDIA, led by the Congress party, won 223 seats, which is more than predicted.

Modi and his party are still likely to form India's next government - but it will depend on the group of allies they need to get more than 272 seats. The BJP and its allies, in a coalition known as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), have won a total of 283 seats.

In the past decade under the BJP government, India has slipped on several democratic indices amid accusations of a crackdown on dissidents, Muslims and the media.