In India’s last general election, in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party won 303 of 543 parliamentary seats, almost six times more than the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress. It was a tough electoral blow for the Congress, a once-dominant party that has appeared greatly diminished in recent years, and exit polls in this year’s elections had not suggested it would fare much better.
But early election results on Tuesday indicated a much stronger-than-expected performance for Congress. The party and its allies were leading in nearly 230 elections, a sharp turnaround that sparked jubilation at Congress headquarters in New Delhi, where supporters erupted in cheers every time a television channel announced a new lead for one of its candidates.
“Whatever the final results, one thing is clear: it is a moral victory for the Congress and our leader Rahul Gandhi, and a defeat for the BJP,” said Robin Michael, a political worker, referring to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
While there was no indication that the Congress and the opposition coalition it leads would achieve a majority to unseat Modi, party workers said they had dented Modi’s aura of invincibility. They praised Gandhi, the Congress Party’s most prominent figure and the great-grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first post-independence prime minister.
Last year, as Gandhi sought to burnish his position by leading long marches across India, the BJP ensnared him in a court case that led to his expulsion from Parliament. He was later returned to his seat by India’s highest court. On Tuesday, Gandhi was on track to win his parliamentary seat in the southern state of Kerala.
Congress, long situated at the political center of India, has struggled to find direction and offer an ideological alternative to the Hindu nationalist BJP. It has faced rebellions, infighting, and periodic bouts of soul-searching over whether to unite behind a new face, just to maintain its dynastic leadership.
This year, despite expectations, Gandhi had set a goal of doubling the party’s 2019 tally of 52 seats. As of late Tuesday afternoon, it was leading by nearly 100 seats.
“We will stop Modi from making a mockery of this country and turning people against each other,” said Sandeep Mishra, a Congress worker at the party headquarters. And he added: “Indians are fed up with Modi.”