Why some voters rejected Modi, BBC reporters explain

When India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi set his sights on a barnstorming victory - 400 out of 543 seats for his alliance - few scoffed at the ambition.

After all, Modi and his BJP have been a largely unstoppable force since coming to power a decade ago.

But while Modi and his alliance are on course to win a majority, it is not quite the untouchable win he and his allies envisioned when counting began this morning.

Here are the thoughts of BBC correspondents in India on why we arrived at results few expected - and what it could mean for the world's largest democracy going forward.

Questions over use of 'Hindu card' as a campaign tool

– Yogita Limaye, BBC News in Dehli

Religion is a factor in every Indian election, and this one was no different.

Modi inaugurated a Hindu temple at a controversial site that had been disputed between Hindus and Muslims in January and this was expected to give his party a big boost during the election.

But no one quite expected the BJP's campaign to be as polarising as it was - or for some of the most aggressive comments to come from the very top.

At a campaign rally in April, Modi said, "When their [the opposition Congress] government was in power they had said Muslims have the first right on the nation's wealth. This means they'll collect the wealth and give it to whom? To those who have many children. To infiltrators."

Some analysts interpreted the remark as an attempt by Modi to galvanise his conservative Hindu support base.

But looking at the results from some key constituencies – the BJP candidate has lost in the temple city of Ayodhya - it doesn't appear to have had the desired effect.

Questions are now being raised about using the Hindu card as a campaign tool, especially since what it seems to have achieved is the opposite - uniting Muslim minorities against the BJP.

'Brand Modi is beginning to fray'

– Soutik Biswas, BBC News in Dehli

Marketing consultants have attributed Narendra Modi's enduring popularity to his mastery of branding, transforming routine events into spectacles and astute messaging.

"He strikes a deep chord with his aura of clarity and strength, speaks simultaneously to anxieties and aspirations, communicates using emotionally resonant metaphors, understands the power of branding key initiatives to generate a sense of activity and purpose and knows the power of enigmatic silence," Santosh Desai, a well-known brand consultant, wrote in 2017.

Over the years, Modi also sold himself as a cultural icon engaging diverse people both at home and abroad, cementing his status as an influential leader in Indian politics. A weak opposition and a largely friendly media helped him build his brand. "He's pop culture in 70% of this country," a brand consultant said at a conclave last year.

No longer. As results of the general elections show, Brand Modi is beginning to fray. Modi has never underperformed and won less than a majority in all the elections he has fought so far.

It has been different this time. Tuesday's results show that some of the sheen may be wearing off and even Modi is not immune to the vagaries of anti-incumbency.

4,200 mile opposition march 'galvanised party cadres'

– Vineet Khare, BBC World Service in Delhi

Since the July 2023 formation of the opposition INDIA alliance, a grouping of more than two dozen parties, the Modi-led government has been painting it as a ragtag bunch of self-serving leaders out to personally target Modi and destroy the country.

While the leaders of the ruling BJP, along with most analysts and pollsters, had for months been predicting an easy win for Modi, the Congress-led opposition block kept emphasising rural distress, inflation and rampant unemployment in its messaging and public meetings.

"The Constitution is in danger" and the country's "democratic institutions are under attack" under a "divisive" Modi was their war cry.

A 4,200 miles (6,700 km) long march by Rahul Gandhi, a senior leader of the Congress party, that began months before the elections was heavily panned for its timing, but analysts believe it enthused supporters and galvanised party cadres.

The opposition also upped its social media reach and aggressively took on the BJP which has for a long time dominated the digital landscape in India.

Welfare schemes of Modi rivals 'better connect' with voters in southern India

– Imran Qureshi, BBC Hindi in Bangalore

Modi's BJP is still struggling to make a major impact in southern India, although its vote share is set to increase.

It won 25 seats in Karnataka alone in 2019. But this time it is losing at least 10 seats in the same state to the Congress party.

It is on the verge of doubling the four seats it won in Telangana and a couple of seats in Andhra Pradesh because of its alliance with the regional Telugu Desam Party, headed by the IT industry friendly Chandrababu Naidu.

In Tamil Nadu, the regional DMK led alliance is on the verge of repeating its 2019 performance of a clean sweep.

And in Kerala, the Communist government and the Congress-led front seem to have kept the BJP from the Lok Sabha.

In short, the development focused welfare schemes of the non-BJP parties appear to be making a better connect with the aspirations of the voters down South.