In a clear deviation from his normal discourse, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (June 4) chanted “Jai Jagannath” instead of “Jai Shree Ram” during his victory speech from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in New Delhi.

After the counting of votes of 2024 Lok Sabha elections took place yesterday, the result showed that the BJP has won 240 seats, while the Congress got 99.

Modi began his 34-minute speech by chanting “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Jai Jagannath” in a nod to the assembly and Lok Sabha victories in Odisha, even as the crowd chanted “Jai Shree Ram”.

Yesterday’s results, especially that in the state of Uttar Pradesh have surprised the BJP, as the making the Ram Temple was a core campaign issue in these elections.

However, the most talked about story on the day of counting was the remarkable turnaround for the Samajwadi Party (SP), the part of INDIA Bloc with the Congress in UP.

The SP alone emerged as the largest party in the state winning 37 seats out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats. Even in Ayodhya which comes under the Faizabad constituency in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP’s sitting MP was defeated after a decade by SP’s Dalit leader Awadhesh Prasad.

The BJP is set to form its first state government in Odisha, where it has won 78 of the 147 seats in the assembly, with the incumbent Biju Janata Dal (BJD) down to 51 seats, and the Congress winning 14. 

The BJP’s victory in the state has ended over two decades of the Naveen Patnaik government in the state, which has been in power since 2000.