Indian PM Modi resigns

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resigned ahead of the formation of a new cabinet.

Narendra Modi met with President Droupadi Murmu earlier today and tendered his resignation, ahead of the ceremony on June 4, Caliber.Az reports, citing Business Standard.

"The President has accepted the resignation and requested Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new Government assumes office," read a press release from the President's office.

The development follows a day after Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to secure the 272 majority mark in the Lok Sabha election result announced on Tuesday. The results showed that the BJP, which won 303 seats last time, was way off the magic number at 240 seats.

NDA, INDIA Lok Sabha tally 

Overall, the BJP-led coalition has 292 seats as of now, 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" in the deal as their victories in Bihar (12) and Andhra Pradesh (16) will decide the future course for the 18th Lok Sabha.

Nitish's JD(U) and Naidu's TDP have pledged their support to the NDA fold.

"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 incumbent Modi government also held its final cabinet meeting earlier today, recommending the dissolution of parliament, a constitutional formality before Modi can form a new government.

INDIA bloc meeting today

Meanwhile, the Congress-led INDIA bloc, which won 234 of the 543 seats, is considering its options, and it is set to hold a key meeting at 6 pm later today to decide its further strategy.

The Lok Sabha election results turned out to be extremely surprising as the Opposition's strategy to fight together against the BJP resulted in a better performance than what was projected in the exit polls.

Congress-SP comeback in UP

The Congress and the Samajwadi Party made strong comebacks, stitching key wins in Uttar Pradesh, which was considered to be BJP bastion. The saffron party had won 62 of the 80 seats in UP last time but lost nearly half of the seats this time with a final tally of 33.

Modi's own victory margin in Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, lowest since 2014 at about 150,000, indicated the voters' message for the BJP about its waning influence, especially in rural areas.

Modi had won the Varanasi seat in 2019 by a margin of over 450,000 votes.  The BJP had aimed for at least 370 seats this time.