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 FREEIHA 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.

However, in his first speech after the results came in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid out his vision for the third term saying it would be a tenure of big decisions with specific emphasis on uprooting corruption.