"Unexpectedly Sobering": How Foreign Media Covered Indian Election Results

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to return for a third term with the BJP and its allies clinching a crucial victory in the recently held national election.

The BJP alone has fallen short of the 272 halfway mark in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, but comfortably crossed the magic number with the help of its allies. The National Democratic Alliance, which bagged 293 seats, will form the government on Saturday, sources told NDTV.

Here's how foreign media covered the Indian election results:

The New York Times

The New York Times newspaper ran a story with the headline "Modi's party wins, but it's far from a landslide" on their front page a day the results were declared. "The results announced on Tuesday were unexpectedly sobering," wrote the US media outlet.

The story mentioned that instead of a runaway win, the BJP lost dozens of seats, and now has to depend on its coalition partners to stay in power. It did not miss that one of the coalition partners is known for switching sides often.

The Times, London

The Times reported the BJP now has to rely on the backing from the National Democratic Alliance to form government in the country.

The country's poorest voters stopped the BJP from winning outright, the London-based outlet wrote even though there's no data on how exactly the poor voted.

Global News, Canada

The BJP lost seats to stronger than expected opposition, reported the Canada-based Global News, highlighting that it's the first time since 2014 that the ruling party did not secure a majority on its own. The report called the results a "stunning blow" in the face of "hopes of a landslide victory", and said citing a commentator that the BJP will now be "heavily dependent on the goodwill of its allies".

The Daily Star, Bangladesh

In its third term, the BJP will have to lean more his allies for support, unlike in the past two elections, reported The Daily Star. It also mentioned that PM Modi had set a target of over 400 seats for NDA. Calling PM Modi "a strong leader", it said he did not have to rely on his alliance partners in the past.

Global Times, China

The China-based Global Times reported that while PM Modi claimed victory in the elections, the alliance-led by him won only by a narrow majority. The BJP failed to secure an outright majority of seats but the alliance got it, it said. The counting of votes spooked the financial markets, which had expected a hefty win for PM Modi, it added.