The party of incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared victory in India's parliamentary elections.
The people of the country had "expressed their confidence in his ruling coalition for the third time in a row," Modi wrote on the X platform on Tuesday evening.
After a portion of the votes had been counted, his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to become the strongest party once again but will lose its absolute majority in the lower house of parliament. This would mean that it would have to rely on its two coalition partners to form a government.
It was considered certain that Modi would be able to continue governing for a third term of five years. However, Rahul Gandhi of the opposition Congress did not rule out talks with two of Modi's coalition partners.
The stock market suffered its worst losses in four years in reaction to Modi's set-back.
Modi's BJP alone had won 303 seats in the previous election, well above the 272-seat majority needed to govern. Five years ago, together with its allies, it won 353 seats, a whopping majority.
Before this election, Modi had set himself the goal of increasing his majority to more than 400 seats. Instead, forecasts suggest the opposition camp have made surprising gains.
Nevertheless, Modi was expected to become only the second prime minister in the country's history to rule for three consecutive terms after Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's first.
