With the BJP falling behind the majority mark of 272 seats, the formation of a new Narendra Modi government will now depend on the support of two veteran kingmakers — the Telugu Desam Party or TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu and Janata Dal (United) or JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar, both partners of the BJP in the NDA totalling about 290 seats.
According to trends released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), at 4.15 pm, the BJP was leading or had won on 244 seats, almost 30 seats short of the majority mark of 272. The TDP was leading or had won on 16 seats, all in Andhra Pradesh, and the JD(U) was leading or had won at 14 seats, all in Bihar.
If these numbers do not change significantly, Naidu and Nitish could be the men who would prop up Narendra Modi in New Delhi.