Whittled Down Modi 3.0

THE BJP-led NDA on Tuesday appeared poised to retain power at the Centre for a third consecutive term, though the saffron party dramatically fell short of a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha.

- RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR AND PREETHA NAIR

• Nitish, Naidu to participate in NDA meet today, expected to give letters of support

• Oppn offers deputy PM post to Nitish, special status for Andhra to woo Naidu

• SP's stellar show was gamechanger

• Big gains for INDIA bloc in Maharashtra

• Didi retains turf in Bengal

From a high of 303 in 2019, the BJP could manage just 240 (leads wins), 32 short of a simple majority. It smoked out the BJP's stability plank as the government's survival would depend on demanding allies like JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar and TDP's Chandrababu Naidu.

The JD(U) has leads/victories in 12 seats while the corresponding figure for the TDP was 16.