"India has won again", said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday while reacting to BJP's stupendous showing in the Lok Sabha polls as the Union ministers and NDA allies credited him and BJP president Amit Shah for the feat, described by many as a "tsunami" that virtually drowned the Opposition.
While there was euphoria in the BJP-led NDA camp, the Congress and other opposition parties were muted in their reactions after the poll verdict clearly showed that they were headed towards another poll debacle after 2014.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi took "100 per cent responsibility" for his party's defeat but asserted that the party will continue to fight the ideological battle with the BJP and asked his party workers and leaders to not be afraid.
He also congratulated Modi and the BJP on their electoral win, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said,"People of India have decided that Narendra Modi will be the PM again and I fully respect that."
Hailing the BJP's performance as "victory of India", Shah said it is people's mandate against the Opposition's propaganda and personal attacks as well as their total rejection of politics of dynasty, appeasement and casteism.
However, TMC and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's reaction was more pragmatic."Congratulations to the winners. But all losers are not losers. We have to do a complete review and then we will share our views with you all. Let the counting process be completed fully and the VVPATs matched," she tweeted.
Riding on a massive Modi wave sweeping through most parts of India, the BJP was set for a phenomenal victory for a second term in office, surpassing its 2014 feat when it got 282 in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
"With all+ development for all+ everybody's confidence = victorious India," Modi tweeted.
"Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India. India wins yet again," he said.
In a series of tweets, Shah said this victory is a "win of people's confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi".
"Today's result is India's mandate against Opposition's propaganda, lies, personal insinuations and baseless politics. It is also people's mandate who have chosen development and nationalism and rejected casteism, dynasty and appeasement," Shah said.
Asserting that this win is a victory for the whole of India, he said, "It is the victory of the hopes of youth, the poor and farmers. This grand victory is a triumph of people's confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development work and strong leadership."
Hailing BJP's performance, RSS' Bhaiyaji Joshi said,"This is the triumph of the national forces."
Asserting that people have given a befitting reply to the opposition parties which created "an atmosphere of illusion" against Modi, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said,"the entire country is 'Modi-may' (in thrall of Modi)...The truth has to be accepted that no one could counter Modi. Today's mandate is such that no one can counter (Modi) for the next 25 years."
Senior ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Suresh Prabhu and Ramvilas Paswan were among those who credited Modi for the stupendous electoral triumph.
Singh tweeted,"spoke to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the BJP National President Shri Amit Shah over the phone and congratulated them for BJP4India led NDA's stupendous victory in these Lok Sabha Elections.
"This historic victory in the General Elections is the outcome of Modiji's visionary leadership, Amit Shahji's dynamism and the hard work of millions of BJP karyakartas on the ground," he said, adding Modi is now all set to build a New India.
"It is not an election but Modi tsunami. I heartily congratulate Narendra Modi," Consumer Affairs Minister and Lok Janshakti Party Ram Vilas Paswan tweeted.
His ministerial colleague, the BJP's Suresh Prabhu, also likened the win to a tsunami and tweeted "It's nothing short of a landslide, a political tsunami sweeping entire country, east or west, BJP is the best, is a reality. North to south people have voted for a clear, unambiguous choice... country must progress further under the leadership of Narendra Modi...".
Another minister Rajayavardhan Singh Rathore said,"My salute to the untiring workers of BJP and Jaipur rural, this is their service to the nation."
Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said,"Congress party is feeling dejected and the trends are not in line with the expectations of the party. I would not jump to the results till complete counting has taken place."
"If they (trends) hold, then Congress needs to introspect as to why it's campaign failed to resonate with the people of the country," he added.
Immediately after the poll outcome, cracks appeared in the opposition camp with CPI national secretary Atul Kumar Anjaan saying decisions taken by Rahul Gandhi led to divisions within the opposition. He asserted that the policies of the Congress scion opened the doors for Narendra Modi's victory.
"We have some setbacks and we find that unfortunately Congress didn't performed up to the mark," senior leader of Nationalist Congress Party Majeed Memon told a TV channel.
"This is clear mandate for Modi led BJP government...caste combination looks good on paper but merely caste combination does not work. You need a big loud message that opposition did not had," Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj India said.
National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah said the country has rejected an alternative to the BJP, and that Modi's "second term" is not a "fluke".
A vocal critic of Modi-led NDA government, Abdullah also requested the BJP leader to "take everyone along" in the coming five years as "this country belongs to all".
"We fought the election and tried to have an alternative to the BJP and the NDA and put it before the country. The country did not accept it. The reality is that the places from where we were expecting the opposition to win, the number of seats from there has come down rather than going up," Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar.
Terming the Lok Sabha poll results as unprecedented, BSP president Mayawati again raised doubts over EVMs and indicated that her alliance with the SP and the RLD will continue.
"We had not contemplated that the alliance will fare so badly. People are not able to digest the poll results. It is against their sentiment and aspirations," she said.
Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Saurabh Bharwaj said,"in democracy, mandate of the people is considered to be very powerful. We respect the mandate of India and congratulate the BJP for its victory. We offer Prime Minister Narendra Modi best wishes for his future tenure. We hope he would do good work in his future tenure."
"Combination of (Narendra) Modi and (Amit) Shah is very unique and important. This victory is result of leadership of Modi and Shah and hard work of lakhs of party workers," said Human Resource Minister Prakash Javadekar.
The BJP leaders said the poll outcome unambiguously indicated that the "grammar of politics is under transformation" and Modi's work has defeated the "negative" politics of opposition.
BJP's vice president Vinay Sahasrabudhe said,"once again people have reposed their confidence in BJP and Modi in a big way. The trends indicate unambiguously that grammar of politics is under transformation"
Party's spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said those who thought that by forming coalition based on caste politics they can defeat development, "this is the new era...Modi era...an era of development politics. Whoever will bring development, will win."
BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya said,"the people on the ground are not buying narrative of the opposition that people are under threat. People are doing well that they are looking forward to the next government of Narendra Modi. We have to realise that Modi's government inherited very weak economy and he done very phenomenal job (in the last five year)".
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