PM Imran Khan congratulates Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on election victory

PM Imran Khan congratulates Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on election victory

Islamabad (Web Desk): Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday congratulated his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on victory of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies in the country's elections.

In his message posted on Twitter, PM Imran Khan said he was looking forward to working with Narendra Modi for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia.

369a234cf2b2b574ecda8a6b772319f8

Earlier on Thursday, Indian PM Narendra Modi claimed victory in the elections in his country.

In a tweet, the Indian PM said, “Thank you India! The faith placed in our alliance is humbling and gives us strength to work even harder to fulfil people's aspirations.

I salute every BJP Karyakarta for their determination, perseverance & hardwork. They went home to home, elaborating on our development agenda,” he added.

4524b75a4d4a9c49e8a83aef6747c03a

As per the Indian election commission’s data based on votes counted so far, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on course to win around 300 of 543 elected seats in India’s lower house, surpassing its 2014 victory and crushing the opposition Congress party´s hopes of a comeback.

According to Indian TV channel NDTV, the BJP led alliance is ahead with 343 seats, with the alliance led by Congress on 93 seats. The non-aligned parties currently have 106 seats.

The BJP has been accused by critics of discriminating against India’s religious minorities, in particular, its 170 million-strong Muslim population. Under Modi, lynchings of Muslims and low-caste Dalits for eating beef and slaughtering and trading in cattle have risen.

Modi ally and BJP party boss Amit Shah tweeted that the election results, which are yet to be finalised, were a victory "for all of India".

"This result is India’s verdict against the propaganda, lies, personal attacks and baseless politics of the opposition," he added.

"Today's mandate also shows that people of India have entirely uprooted casteism, nepotism and appeasement to choose nationalism and development."