Video caption: Leaders from parties in NDA arrive in DelhiLeaders from parties in NDA arrive in Delhi
Leaders of the BJP-led NDA alliance have arrived at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg - the official residence of the prime minister - for a meeting.
They are likely to discuss the formation of their coalition government and ministerial berths that will be given to various parties.
Among the leaders seen arriving are key allies Nitish Kumar - chief minister of Bihar state and leader of JD(U) - and N Chandrababu Naidu, chief of the TDP.
Their numbers will be crucial in taking the alliance over the 272-mark needed to form a government so their moves are being closely watched.
Earlier today, Modi met Indian President Draupadi Murmu, who formally accepted his resignation as prime minister and also that of his cabinet of ministers ahead of the formation of a new government.
The Bengal battle
Sanjoy Majumder
BBC News, Delhi
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee (left) with her nephew and party leader Abhishek BanerjeeImage caption: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee (left) with her nephew and party leader Abhishek Banerjee
One of the strongest performances by the opposition India alliance came from the eastern state of West Bengal. This is where the BJP was pitted against the regional Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, led by India’s most powerful female politician, Mamata Banerjee.
The state sends 42 MPs to parliament, the most after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The BJP had hoped to improve its performance here - it held 19 seats previously - in part to offset losses anticipated in other parts of the country.
When I visited the state during the campaign, it appeared to be a tightly fought contest.
Modi campaigned vigorously, frequently targeting the Muslim minority and talking up alleged illegal migration from neighbouring Bangladesh.
But the TMC won 29 seats on Tuesday, reducing the BJP’s seat count to 12.
What appears to have worked is Banerjee’s welfare pitch, on the back of schemes targeting vulnerable groups, especially women. This may have trumped Modi’s nationalist appeal.
'People didn't want power to rest with a single party'
We're continuing to bring you voicers from voters, especially from Uttar Pradesh which significantly dampened the BJP's fortunes. Here is Dhruv Singh, who is from Varanasi - one of India's holiest cities and also PM Modi's constituency.
Modi's slim victory margin there was surprisingly slim by his standards - he won by 150,000 votes, whereas in 2019, he'd won by more than 400,000 votes - Mr Dhruv says he thinks this happened because Modi had failed to address the problems faced by ordinary people.
BBCCopyright: BBC
Dhruv Singh says PM Modi failed to address problems in his constituencyImage caption: Dhruv Singh says PM Modi failed to address problems in his constituency
He also says that PM Modi's BJP failed to win the majority - something the party managed to do in the two previous elections - because people didn't want a single party to hold power at the federal level.
"One-party governments have the propensity to move towards dictatorship, something people sensed happening during Modi's rule and so they voted for a coalition government," Mr Singh says.
The pollster who cried on TV
Cherylann Mollan
Reporting from Mumbai
INDIA TODAY / YOUTUBECopyright: INDIA TODAY / YOUTUBE
As votes were being counted on Tuesday, a video quickly went viral on social media. But it didn't feature politicians.
It showed Pradeep Gupta, chairman and managing director of data firm Axis My India, crying on a news channel.
Mr Gupta, who had been invited on the channel as a panellist to discuss the results, broke down after the data trickling in turned out to be vastly different from what his firm had predicted in its exit poll.
While the India Today-Axis My India exit polls had predicted that the BJP-led NDA alliance would win 361-401 seats in parliament, the bloc ended up winning 293 seats.
It had also predicted that the opposition INDIA bloc would win 131-166 seats, but the coalition won 232 seats.
The anchors were seen consoling Mr Gupta even as the programme continued on live TV. Watch from 7 minutes onwards here
'As a first-time voter, I picked BJP but it lost'
Yesterday, voters made their voice heard through the results. Today, let's see how some of them are reacting to the developments of yesterday.
Aditya Krishna is a 20-year-old first-time voter from Uttar Pradesh, a Hindi heartland state that has the potential to sway national politics as it sends 80 MPs to parliament.
The state has been a stronghold of the BJP in the past two elections - in 2019, it won 62 out of 80 seats in 2019 and 71 in 2014. It has won only 33 this time.
Mr Krishna says that he is unhappy that the BJP, which he voted for, did not perform well in the state. "The results weren't as I had expected," he says.
BBCCopyright: BBC
Aditya Krishna voted for the first time in this electionImage caption: Aditya Krishna voted for the first time in this election
But he also says that whichever party forms the government, they should think about creating jobs for the youth.
"Only then will we be able to support our families," he says.
He also wants the next government to reduce the cost of education and healthcare keeping the poor in mind.
"The country had become a lot safer under the BJP's rule, and that's a good thing," he adds.
Live Reporting
Produced by Vikas Pandey & Zoya Mateen in Delhi and Edited by Sharanya Hrishikesh in London
All times stated are UK
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BJP-led alliance meets
Video content
Leaders of the BJP-led NDA alliance have arrived at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg - the official residence of the prime minister - for a meeting.
They are likely to discuss the formation of their coalition government and ministerial berths that will be given to various parties.
Among the leaders seen arriving are key allies Nitish Kumar - chief minister of Bihar state and leader of JD(U) - and N Chandrababu Naidu, chief of the TDP.
Their numbers will be crucial in taking the alliance over the 272-mark needed to form a government so their moves are being closely watched.
Earlier today, Modi met Indian President Draupadi Murmu, who formally accepted his resignation as prime minister and also that of his cabinet of ministers ahead of the formation of a new government.
The Bengal battle
Sanjoy Majumder
BBC News, Delhi
One of the strongest performances by the opposition India alliance came from the eastern state of West Bengal. This is where the BJP was pitted against the regional Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, led by India’s most powerful female politician, Mamata Banerjee.
The state sends 42 MPs to parliament, the most after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The BJP had hoped to improve its performance here - it held 19 seats previously - in part to offset losses anticipated in other parts of the country.
When I visited the state during the campaign, it appeared to be a tightly fought contest.
Modi campaigned vigorously, frequently targeting the Muslim minority and talking up alleged illegal migration from neighbouring Bangladesh.
But the TMC won 29 seats on Tuesday, reducing the BJP’s seat count to 12.
What appears to have worked is Banerjee’s welfare pitch, on the back of schemes targeting vulnerable groups, especially women. This may have trumped Modi’s nationalist appeal.
'People didn't want power to rest with a single party'
We're continuing to bring you voicers from voters, especially from Uttar Pradesh which significantly dampened the BJP's fortunes. Here is Dhruv Singh, who is from Varanasi - one of India's holiest cities and also PM Modi's constituency.
Modi's slim victory margin there was surprisingly slim by his standards - he won by 150,000 votes, whereas in 2019, he'd won by more than 400,000 votes - Mr Dhruv says he thinks this happened because Modi had failed to address the problems faced by ordinary people.
He also says that PM Modi's BJP failed to win the majority - something the party managed to do in the two previous elections - because people didn't want a single party to hold power at the federal level.
"One-party governments have the propensity to move towards dictatorship, something people sensed happening during Modi's rule and so they voted for a coalition government," Mr Singh says.
The pollster who cried on TV
Cherylann Mollan
Reporting from Mumbai
As votes were being counted on Tuesday, a video quickly went viral on social media. But it didn't feature politicians.
It showed Pradeep Gupta, chairman and managing director of data firm Axis My India, crying on a news channel.
Mr Gupta, who had been invited on the channel as a panellist to discuss the results, broke down after the data trickling in turned out to be vastly different from what his firm had predicted in its exit poll.
While the India Today-Axis My India exit polls had predicted that the BJP-led NDA alliance would win 361-401 seats in parliament, the bloc ended up winning 293 seats.
It had also predicted that the opposition INDIA bloc would win 131-166 seats, but the coalition won 232 seats.
The anchors were seen consoling Mr Gupta even as the programme continued on live TV. Watch from 7 minutes onwards here
'As a first-time voter, I picked BJP but it lost'
Yesterday, voters made their voice heard through the results. Today, let's see how some of them are reacting to the developments of yesterday.
Aditya Krishna is a 20-year-old first-time voter from Uttar Pradesh, a Hindi heartland state that has the potential to sway national politics as it sends 80 MPs to parliament.
The state has been a stronghold of the BJP in the past two elections - in 2019, it won 62 out of 80 seats in 2019 and 71 in 2014. It has won only 33 this time.
Mr Krishna says that he is unhappy that the BJP, which he voted for, did not perform well in the state. "The results weren't as I had expected," he says.
But he also says that whichever party forms the government, they should think about creating jobs for the youth.
"Only then will we be able to support our families," he says.
He also wants the next government to reduce the cost of education and healthcare keeping the poor in mind.
"The country had become a lot safer under the BJP's rule, and that's a good thing," he adds.