Modi declares victory in India election as his party faces shock setbacks

 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed victory in India's mammoth election, but his goal of winning an unassailable majority lies in tatters, with preliminary results showing voters delivered shock setbacks that will reduce the extent of his party’s grip on power.
• Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will likely fall short of an outright majority and be reliant on longstanding coalition allies to form a government. India's opposition has made unexpected gains in key BJP strongholds.
• All 642 million votes cast during six weeks of the world's biggest election, which ended on June 1, are being counted today. Votes are being tallied under an extreme heat wave that has killed dozens of people. 
• India has inched closer toward superpower status under Modi's decade of rule but has also become increasingly polarized along religious lines. 
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will need a coalition partner to form a government, which could be challenging given his centralization of power both in the country and within his own party, said Neelanjan Sircar, a senior fellow at the Center for Policy Research, in an interview with CNN from Singapore.

Sircar pointed out that Modi has "crossed many red lines" by using state institutions against opposition leaders and the media. He added that voters on the ground felt that "certain lines have been crossed," even if they didn't state it explicitly.