Today, we have a Your News Hub Exclusive for our daily update-- the Indian elections, explained to you in depth by writer Mihir Gupta!
Contents:
The Indian election results are here! And they were not exactly what I was expecting. We hope all our readers living in India contributed to this massive event. I will be explaining all the very weird and interesting results that came out, from the federal elections to the state ones.
First, let's go into the federal elections. To "form a government" and choose a prime minister, a party or coalition must hold at least 272 out of the 543 seats. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), gained 294 seats, easily taking the title of the majority. The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.), led by the Congress Party, was the next best, winning 235 seats. This means the BJP leader Narendra Modi is set to be the nation's prime minister for the 3rd time.
There is a twist, however. While the NDA secured a win for itself, the BJP, disappointingly so, did not receive at least 272 seats. This means that the other parties in the coalition could demand certain things from the BJP, or else they might leave the alliance. This is certainly a shocking revelation for Modi and his team.
The state of Andhra Pradesh has been the site of fierce competition between N. Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP). TDP won 135 out of 175 seats, easily gaining a majority in the legislature. Naidu will serve as chief minister for the 4th time.
Arunachal Pradesh handed Congress a huge defeat, placing last in total number of seats. BJP scored a landslide with 46 out of 60 seats, and Congress only received 1. The runner-up was the National People's Party (5 seats), followed by the Nationalist Congress Party (I know, it's confusing, but Congress and the NCP are not the same) with 3 seats, then independents with 3 seats, and finally the People's Party of Arunachal with 2 seats). Local BJP leader Pema Khandu will therefore become the Chief Minister.
In Odisha, the BJP again had a victory, securing the state independently for the first time. Their main opponents were the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), a party whose main turf was the state. BJP received 78 of the 147 seats, while BJD got 51. This means the next Chief Minister of Odisha will be local BJP leader Manmohan Samal. The other parties did not do so well, however. Congress won 14 seats, independents got 3 seats, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) received 1 seat.
Sikkim had the most weird results, according to me. 31 out of the 32 seats were awarded to the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), the dominant party in the region since 2019. Only 1 seat, belonging to the constituency of Tenzing Norbu Lamtha, was given to the Sikkim Democratic Front, SKM's rival party. The other parties competing (BJP, Congress, and the Citizen Action Party-Sikkim) contested for many seats, but were unable to gain a win.
So, the elections are done! The results are in and...stop! There are still 4 more state elections to go. If you are living in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir or the states of Haryana, Maharashtra, or Jharkhand, make sure you vote! Every voice matters.
Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): The Empire State Building has its own ZIP code, 10118.
Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. (Mohandas K. Gandhi)
Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Meliorism (noun) - Meliorism refers to the belief that the world tends to improve and that humans can aid its betterment.
In a Sentence: Her belief in meliorism has given her a positive outlook on life.
Very well articulated. Good job
Well written. Thank you for the summary. It was indeed an incredible feat to conduct elections and get around 1.5B people to vote.