‘Not Going To Comment On…’: US Lauds India On Lok Sabha Elections, Stays Neutral On Results

India’s Lok Sabha elections have garnered international praise, with the US lauding it as the ‘largest exercise of democracy in history’. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller commended the Indian government and voters for successfully completing the massive electoral process. The US refrained from commenting on specific outcomes, maintaining a neutral stance on electoral winners and losers globally. “I’m also not going to comment on winners and losers in elections as is our case around the world. What is important for us and what we have seen over the past six weeks is the largest exercise of democracy in history, as the Indian people came to the polls,” he added.
The BJP-led NDA is poised to win 291 seats and the INDIA bloc 234 with the election turning out to be much closer than predicted by the exit polls which gave a huge majority to the ruling alliance at the Centre. Other parties are slated to win 18 seats. Miller said that the US will wait for the final election results before offering any definitive comment. Notably, as per the Election Commission of India counting of votes is still going on with two seats yet to be declared in the 543 member Lok Sabha seats, with a majority mark of 272.
“The election results have not been finalised. So we will wait for the finalisation of those election results before we offer any definitive comment. I’m also not going to comment on winners and losers in elections, as in our case around the world, what is important for us and what we have seen over the past six weeks is the largest exercise of democracy in history as the Indian people came to the polls,” he said.
Lok Sabha Election Result 2024
The Election Commission of India has declared results for all Lok Sabha constituencies, with the BJP winning 240 of the 543 seats and the Congress 99.
According to the final results, declared early on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.
The BJP, whose candidates contested in the name of Modi, won in 240 seats, falling short of the 272 majority mark and needing the support of allies in the party-led NDA for government formation, a far cry from the 303 and 282 seats it had won in 2019 and 2014, respectively, to have a majority on its own.
With support from key allies N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), which won 16 and 12 seats in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, respectively, and other alliance partners, the NDA crossed the halfway mark.