The challengers have put up an unexpectedly strong fight to weaken, if not end, Modi’s 10-year stranglehold on power. Its performance — 235 seats projected for INDIA versus 290 for NDA, at the time of writing — was enough to sink Indian stocks, which posted their biggest loss in four years. The rupee fell the most in a year. Investors had pumped money into the country’s assets just the day before, expecting a landslide win for Modi based on exit polls that I had described on Sunday as more noise than signal.
Whoever becomes India’s next prime minister, the message from voters to financial markets is clear: “We have moved on from Narendra Modi. When will you?”
With more than 90% of votes counted, it is almost certain that Modi’s Hindu right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party will fall short of a majority in the 543-member parliament. However, the BJP will still return to power with the help of coalition partners, unless there is an even bigger upset. All it will take is a couple of key members of the National Democratic Alliance, or NDA, to switch their allegiance to the opposition INDIA coalition.
