NEW DEHLI, May 24 (Newswires) - In India's parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist party achieved its best ever result in the parliamentary elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 303 mandates, further expanding its majority in the 543-seat parliament, the election commission announced on Friday. The opposition Congress party, which had determined the fate of the country for decades, won only 52 seats. In 13 federal states and five union territories it could not win a seat at all. The Congress party thus suffered a debacle similar to that of five years ago, when it achieved its worst result ever with 44 seats.

Election winner Modi met with allies and former mentors on Friday to set the course for his second term in office. Major challenges include boosting economic growth and reducing unemployment, as well as aid to agriculture, from whic 70 percent of all households. The elections in the world's largest democracy had lasted several weeks. On Sunday, the mammoth election ended after just under six weeks.