One of the great joys of watching a blockbuster movie is the intermission which comes just when the plot is reaching a dramatic crescendo. It is during the interval that you can step out from the darkness into a calmer space for a quick break. Ever since Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister in 2014, the news cycle has been on steroids. Now, finally, a fatigued voter has pressed the pause button without a total switch-off.

Which is why it would be a huge mistake to over-read the 2024 verdict. The Modi fan club could remind us that BJP’s 240-seats performance still stands taller than any Congress performance in the last 30 years. The Modi baiter club tells you that this is a mandate against the incumbent: A party that boasted of getting "Char SavPaar” ends up well below the halfway 272. The truth, as often is the case, lies somewhere in between.

The BJP’s victory 'Rath' triumphally marching from one state to another has undoubtedly been halted In the country’s three biggest electoral states—Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. Amidst the recriminations over what went wrong, the reality is that a seemingly supreme election machine was no longer invincible.

The aura around Prime Minister Narendra Modi has somewhat dimmed, too. A Centre for Study of Development Societies (CSDS) post-poll survey puts Rahul Gandhi over Modi in UP on the leadership question, the first time he has edged ahead in a major Hindi heartland state in a decade.

And yet, the Congress trailing the BJP nationwide, in seats as well as vote-share. In direct BJP versus Congress fights, the gap between seats won remains in favour of the BJP — 157 against 51. The only state the Congress dominated was Kerala, where its principal opponent was the Left, not the BJP. In the Congress-ruled states of Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh, the BJP was unable to push. (IPA Service)