The performance of the Congress and the INDIA block meant that the BJP was restricted to 240 seats, short of the majority, although the larger NDA group which it heads, won 293 seats.

“The election results, which have just come, is the result of the people. This is the victory of the people and democracy. We humbly accept the public opinion in the elections of the 18th Lok Sabha. This time the public has not given a clear majority to any party (especially the ruling party)”, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Tuesday.

He also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “BJP has sought votes on one person and one face, but now it is clear that the mandate has gone against Narendra Modi. This is a huge defeat for them morally and politically. They have suffered a huge loss from a moral point of view”.

The Congress turnaround was built on three pillars. The INDIA bloc of opposition parties got off to a rocky start with many partners going public in late 2022 and early 2023 about the Congress delaying seat talks. But eventually, the Congress—led bloc of 30 partners did manage to do this to a significant extent. The block fielded candidates across 543 seats, with the most serious of the intragroup contests in 75 seats across West Bengal, Kerala and Punjab. And in around 350 seats, the alliance managed to field a single candidate against the BJP.

Much of that came from the Congress’s willingness to let go. It fielded only 328 candidates this time, the lowest ever it has. Interestingly, the party was willing to go even lower.

In an internal meeting of the Congress leaders on January 6, at the party headquarters, Kharge hinted that the Congress will fight fewer seats. “We would focus on 255 seats,” he said to a surprised audience.

“We respected INDIA partners. We accommodate their wishes and fought together,” Rahul Gandhi said at a press conference.

But the Congress was also careful in putting up its candidates. “During the discussions with Samajwadi Party, they repeatedly advised us not to field Imran Masood from Saharanpur as he had lost in previous polls. But we stuck with Masood and now he won the seat with more than 77,000 votes”, said a leader who asked not to be named.

And where it felt a seat adjustment would hurt the alliance, it avoided one, like it did in Punjab, although it entered a pact with AAP in other states.. “If a ruling party and principal Opposition party joined hands, our votes would have gone to BJP and Akali Dal”, said a senior Congress leader from Punjab. Of the 13 seats in Punjab, the Congress won seven and AAP three. (IPA Service)