The verdict is out. Even though the BJP-led NDA has the numbers to form the government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party has well fallen short of the 400-paar slogan that dominated its campaign. 

The INDIA bloc has shown signs for the opposition’s revival while BJP allies Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu have emerged as power centres, considering their significance for the government to hold its majority.  

The markets tanked, the pundits cried, and the front pages had all the big headlines. Here’s what they said.  

Hindustan Times 

“Politwist: It’s game on”, read the banner headline on Hindustan Times front page, half which featured the illustrations of Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi along with Amit Shah, Nitish Kumar Chandrababu Naidu, Akhilesh Yadav, Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee and MK Stalin. The illustration was captioned: “NDA leading, INDIA shining.”

“The National Democratic Alliance was headed for a narrow majority in the Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday evening after a resurgent opposition alliance delivered an unexpected setback to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by posting record-busting performances in three of India’s most populous states capitalising on local discontent and concerns about the future of the Constitution,” read the main article. 

The page carried two other pieces titled “Opposition highs: Congress rise, UP rally, Bengal sweep” and “For Modi 3.0, ball in kingmakers’ court”. The latter carried the pictures of Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu, and said, “Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu, regional satraps both, the first chief minister of Bihar and the second, to-be-CM of Andhra, are now kingmakers. With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) short of majority in Lok Sabha elections declared on Tuesday, no government can come to power without them.”    

Times of India

The main article in the election edition front flap of The Times of India was titled “LS election “LS Constitution has changed”. The article carried a map of India with states marked by saffron or blue to represent the BJP-led NDA and the Congress-led INDIA’s victories — 291 and 234, respectively. 

Another report titled “BJP loses 53 in 5 biggest states” detailed the INDIA bloc’s wins and the saffron party’s loses. “In Uttar Pradesh, INDIA has 37 more seats than in 2019. In Maharashtra, the bloc has 21 more. Bihar and Bengal have added 14 extra seats to its tally. This has taken a major toll on BJP’s score.” 

The flap also carried five pointers on “what this verdict means”. Under the subhead “Housekeeping challenge”, it said, “Short of majority, dependent on two allies who may not always share BJP’s priorities, and faced with a resurgent opposition, BJP will find Parliament a far more difficult place to navigate”. The report also mentioned that the Maharashtra, Delhi and Haryana elections are coming up, and that the “BJP will look for a reboot” and “Modi needs magic back”.      

The front page carried a banner headline: “Hat-Tricky: NDA 272 Paar, INDIA Raises Bar”. The main report said “BJP has to rely on ambitious allies” and in separate reports, it carried details of Narendra Modi’s address and Rahul Gandhi’s media interaction. A double-column on the side carried caricatures of INDIA bloc leaders and Chandrababu Naidu with snippets on them. For Rahul Gandhi, it said: “In the toughest election of his career, Gandhi emerged as a major winner.” 

It called Nitish Kumar a “political gymnast” and said Akhilesh Yadav “finally ends his losing streak” and Naidu “is living proof of the folly of writing a politician’s epitaph”.    

The Telegraph 

The front page of The Telegraph’s Calcutta edition carried a half-page picture of Narendra Modi’s close-up of him staring down, with the headline: “India cuts Modi down”. 

It carried two reports. One of them was titled “Elected in numbers: An inspired Opposition” carried a picture of the Gandhis – Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi – with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. It said, “The Opposition waged its campaign pushed to the wall and braving unprecedented odds. Two chief ministers were arrested as electioneering gathered momentum, the threat of raids or arrest by agencies like the ED and CBI hung over many others in the INDIA ranks.”

The other report, titled “Didi has BJP on the mat, again”, carried a picture of Banerjee from her public address and said: “Trinamool has vanquished the BJP in Bengal cornering around 46 per cent votes and bagging 29 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, cementing Mamata Banerjee’s position as the country’s most formidable Opposition leader for the second time in three years after the 2021 Assembly polls.”

The Hindu

The lead headline said the “BJP falls short, needs allies to govern”, with an illustration of Modi and Rahul Gandhi on top of a hand – the former holding the finger with election ink and the latter sitting comfortably with a thumbs-up.

The second report was headlined “Nitish and Naidu emerge kingmakers”.       

There were three other reports on the front page. One on the YSRCP rout in Andhra Pradesh, second on Naveen Patnaik’s defeat at the hands of the BJP in Odisha, and the third about the AAP-Congress combine failing to stop the BJP from repeating its clean sweep in Delhi.

The Indian Express

“India gives NDA third term, Modi a message,” was the big headline on the front page. 

There were seven reports on the front page of the Delhi edition, and two pictures – of PM Narendra Modi at the BJP headquarters and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Sonia Gandhi at the AICC office.

One report looked at the PM’s speech after the NDA victory, another on TDP and JD(U) reportedly pushing the case for the Speaker’s post, a third on how the BJP lost the plot in UP, the fourth on the possibility of a bid by the INDIA bloc to stake claim to power. 

There was one report on the fall in the markets, an explainer on the mandate, and a piece on the assembly poll results in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

The front pages of Hindi newspapers were also packed with news on the results and its takeaways. The page one of Dainik Jagran featured the illustrations of Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu along with other politicians, with the headline: “Loktantra ki jai (Hail democracy)”. The subhead said, “Gathbandhan ke sahare Modi (dependent on alliances)”.

Dainik Bhaskar’s big headline was “Sarkar NDA ki, chamatkar INDIA ka (NDA’s government, magic of INDIA)”, while Rashtriya Sahara’s banner headline read, “Abki baar ‘bandhan’ sarkar (This time, alliance government).” 

Odisha-based Sanmarg’s front page carried a half-page picture of Modi and BJP president JP Nadda with the headline “NDA ko bahumat, Bhajpa ko jhatka (Majority to NDA, shock to BJP)”.      

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