'Win, defeat part of politics': Modi tells outgoing cabinet in final meet

Narendra Modi chaired the final meeting of the outgoing union cabinet on Wednesday, a day after Lok Sabha election 2024 results were announced

Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed his gratitude to the outgoing union ministers for giving their best in the past 10 years and assured them that victory and defeat are a part of politics.

“We have done good work for the last 10 years. We will continue to do so…”Victory and defeat are part of politics. The numbers game will go on,” Modi told the cabinet, NDTV reported.

He made the remarks a day after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party failed to replicate its massive win from the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and could not even secure a majority by itself.

The saffron party won 240 of the 543 seats while 272 were needed to form the government. In 2019, it won 303 seats and had set an ambitious goal of 370 for itself this time.

Modi hands resignation to President Murmu

During the meeting, the union cabinet recommended the dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha. Modi made the formal recommendation to President Droupadi Murmu and also handed over his resignation. His cabinet has also resigned.

Union ministers lose key constituencies

Many union ministers also lost the elections, which turned out to be more unexpected than the exit poll predictions, which had given an edge of 350-400 seats to the BJP-led NDA. Smriti Irani, Rajeev Chandraskher, Ajay Mishra Teni, Arjun Munda, and RK Singh were among the 13 union ministers who lost the elections from their constituencies.

Overall, the BJP-led coalition has 292 seats, while the Congress-led Opposition has 234 seats. With the humbling verdict for the BJP, NDA partners Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu have emerged as the ‘kingmakers’ and will step in with their 12 and 16 seats in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh respectively to help the coalition reach the magic figure.

“We are with the NDA, I will be attending the meeting in Delhi today,” Naidu said ahead of the NDA meeting in Delhi today.

The term of the current 17th Lok Sabha ends on June 16.