This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.
It’s the 7th of June and here are the top stories of the week.

The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Party is set to return for a third term by winning 293 seats in the 18th Lok Sabha elections. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a major setback as it fell short of a majority – with 240 seats – on its own as it was heavily dependent on alliance partners such as the TDP and JD(U) to secure 272 seats required to form the government.

The Opposition INDIA bloc combined by the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won a total of 232 seats. The Congress got back on its feet with 99 seats and the SP gave a stunning show by winning 37 seats from a mere 5 seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2019. The TMC won 29 seats in West Bengal while the DMK had leads in 22 seats. The Sharad Pawar-led NCP won 7 seats and the Shiv Sena of Uddhav Thackeray secured 9 seats. In Bihar, the RJD was ahead in 4 constituencies and the AAP and JMM in 3.

In Odisha, the BJP is all set to form a majority government of its own for the first time, winning 78 out of 147 seats in the assembly elections of the coastal state. The outcome brings to an end the five-term reign of Naveen Patnaik’s BJD, which managed to retain only 51 seats this time. Patnaik was eyeing to become the longest serving Chief Minister in India, but fell short by 76 days.

Actor Kangana Ranaut, who recently won the Mandi Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket, was allegedly slapped by a woman constable of the CISF at the security area of Chandigarh airport. Afterwards, the CISF constable, Kulwinder Kaur, suggested her actions were linked to a statement Ranaut had made about women joining the farmers’ protest. The CISF suspended the constable, initiated departmental inquiry, and lodged a police complaint against her. Ranaut, who was taking a Vistara flight to New Delhi and was accompanied by members of her family, said she will file a complaint with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, which congratulated Narendra Modi, the BJP and NDA on their election victory, has protested the exchange of messages between Taiwan President Lai Ching-te and Modi on the poll outcome. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, responding to a question on the interaction between Modi and Lai, said there is no such thing as ‘president’ of the Taiwan region and that China opposes all forms of official interactions between the Taiwan authorities and countries having diplomatic relations with China. She further stated that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China.

  This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.