India 2024 election results show Prime Minister Narendra Modi winning third term, but with a smaller mandate

New Delhi — India's 2024 election results show Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to win his third term in office, with the political alliance led by his Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on track to win a solid majority of the seats up for grabs in India's Parliament. Final numbers were expected later Tuesday, but the results of the world's biggest democratic elections appeared clear: Modi will keep his job, but with a smaller mandate than was widely expected or promised by his party. 

For the first time ever, the giant of Indian politics for more than a decade will be forced to form a coalition government with smaller, albeit allied parties.  

The final results were expected to maintain the balance revealed by preliminary ballot counting, which showed the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) winning around 295 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament.