PM Modi and Amit Shah meet BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi

On Friday Prime Minister Narendra Modi, together with BJP national president Amit Shah, called on the party’s senior leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, a day after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a decisive mandate to return to power at the Centre.

Tribute to Joshi

After meeting Joshi, Modi wrote on Twitter that the veteran leader was an outstanding scholar who had made a remarkable contribution to Indian education. He said Joshi had always worked to strengthen the BJP and had guided many party workers, including Modi himself.

The mandate

According to official Election Commission data, the BJP had won 296 of the 542 seats that went to the polls and was leading in seven more, compared with the 282 it won in 2014. Latest trends put the party’s vote share at around 48%. Counting was expected to be fully completed by Friday morning. This would be the first time since 1984 that a single party had won consecutive majorities in the Lok Sabha.

Next steps

With the long and divisive campaign over, attention turned to governance. Modi was to hold talks on Friday on forming a new cabinet, which would face a slowing economy and other challenges in his second term.

What happened next

Votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha election were counted on 23 May 2019. The BJP won 303 of the 543 seats and the Congress 52, and Narendra Modi was sworn in for a second term as Prime Minister on 30 May 2019.

See also: political leaders

Originally published on 24 May 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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