Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to present a coalition agreement to the president on Friday, after an unexpectedly close election forced his party to rely on allies to keep him in power

Ever since the rise of Narendra Modi on the national scene in 2014, his leadership has attracted voters to the BJP on a considerable scale.

A Delhi court yesterday denied interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister and key opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal in a case relating to alleged corruption in the capital territory’s alcohol sales policy, legal news website Live Law reported.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will remain in office but with a substantially reduced mandate, confounding expectations of a resounding victory forecast by analysts and exit polls. AFP takes a look at the reasons why Modi and his party failed to achieve a third successive landslide win:

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis yesterday offered to step down as Maharashtra deputy chief minister taking moral responsibility for the party’s poor showing in Lok Sabha elections in the state.

As the Indian parliamentary election results neared completion on Tuesday, supporters at the Congress party’s national headquarters at 24 Akbar Road in the heart of Delhi broke into celebrations.

India’s main opposition Congress party bagged both parliamentary seats in strife-torn Manipur in the general election as the north-eastern state voted out Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party and its ally after year-long ethnic clashes.

Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today congratulated the winning NDA led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the people of India for exercising their democratic rights in the just-held Lok Sabha election in India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will remain in office but with a substantially reduced mandate, confounding expectations of a resounding victory forecast by analysts and exit polls

The cabinet recommended the dissolution of the lower house of parliament on Wednesday, a day after his Bharatiya Janata party-led alliance won a rare third term in general elections

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to meet his allies on Wednesday to discuss forming the government, a day after his Hindu nationalist party lost its outright majority in parliament in a surprise election verdict

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to win a rare third term in office, but a smaller-than-expected mandate means he will have to lean more on his allies for support

Results for 542 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats have been released by the Election Commission of India -- with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning 240 seats and the Congress 99, according to NDTV report

“Assure countrymen that to fulfil their aspirations, we will move forward with new energy, new enthusiasm and new resolve.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won a third term in power yesterday, leading a country with the world’s biggest population and fastest-growing economy.

BJP may have to rely on partners to form govt

The aura of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remains undiminished even after 13 years in power. She reaffirmed her status as the numero uno street-savvy politician as her party Trinamool Congress coasted to a memorable victory in parliamentary elections in the state.

By all accounts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party looks set to return for a rare third consecutive term to rule India. It has emerged as the largest single party but failed to reach the majority mark on its own. The opposition INDIA alliance led by Congress made a strong comeback that has done the spadework for a check and balance in a democracy.

Two key regional allies in Narendra Modi’s coalition have endorsed him as India’s next prime minister, their spokespeople said yesterday, after trends showed Modi’s party was falling short of a majority in a general election.

From ‘pappu’ to ‘shehzade’, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been the prime target of BJP’s ridicule for years. Jabs at the Gandhi family have been the BJP leader’s main line of attack at the main opposition Congress in every election over the past decade. But as Congress inches towards a 100-seat tally in this Lok Sabha election -- its best show in a decade -- and the INDIA bloc’s tally defies all exit polls, the Gandhi siblings have played a central role.