Israel’s 2026 parliamentary election has left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot short of a majority in the Knesset, leaving the formation of the next government uncertain.

Exit polls released after voting ended on October 27 projected different seat totals for Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot. The differing projections indicated that neither bloc was assured of a majority.

The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, has 120 seats, and a majority requires at least 61. The initial projections suggested that neither side had reached that threshold.

Netanyahu and Eisenkot blocs fall short

Exit polls from Channels 11 and 13 projected 51 seats for each of the two rival blocs, while Channel 12 projected 52 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc.

Although Netanyahu’s Likud party was projected to remain the largest individual party, its position did not automatically guarantee another term for the prime minister.

A partial count reported on October 28 put Netanyahu’s bloc at 53 seats, the opposition bloc led by Eisenkot at 48 and Arab-led parties at 19. These figures were provisional, with the counting and verification of special ballots still capable of changing the seat distribution.

Arab-led parties could influence government formation

Arab-led parties could influence the coalition arithmetic because neither main bloc had secured a majority in the partial count. However, their seat totals alone do not establish whether they will support either bloc in government formation.

However, the number of seats won by a party or bloc does not by itself determine who becomes prime minister. Government formation depends on whether a candidate can secure sufficient parliamentary support.

The final seat distribution and the positions taken by potential coalition partners will therefore be important in determining the next steps.

What happens next in Israel?

After the official results are announced, President Isaac Herzog is expected to consult representatives of the elected parties and assign the task of forming a government to the candidate he believes has the best chance of securing parliamentary support.

Coalition negotiations could take weeks. If neither side can assemble a government, the country could face further political uncertainty.

At the reporting stage described on October 28, the count was still underway, and the available figures had not established whether either bloc could secure a majority in the Knesset.

Congress has retained the Nagpur graduates’ constituency in Maharashtra’s Legislative Council elections, with sitting MLC Abhijit Wanjari defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sudhakar Kohale by 3,271 votes. The result also gave the Congress an opportunity to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over their earlier remarks about the party’s performance in the polls.

Wanjari secured 67,231 votes against Kohale’s 63,960, retaining the seat after a closely contested election. The counting process, which began on Tuesday morning, continued for more than 40 hours before the result was finalised in the early hours of Thursday.

The Nagpur constituency carries political significance as the city is home to the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is also the home turf of Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

How Congress turned the contest around in Nagpur

The contest remained tight during the initial counting rounds. Kohale was ahead after the second round, with 60,924 first-preference votes against Wanjari’s 56,630. Independent candidate Nitesh Karale had received 24,249 votes at that stage.

As no candidate secured the required quota to win outright, the counting proceeded to second-preference votes. Wanjari eventually moved ahead and secured victory by a margin of 3,271 votes.

The outcome allowed Congress to retain the constituency, which Wanjari had also won in the previous election.

Congress targets Modi and Fadnavis over social media posts

Congress leaders used the Nagpur result to respond to earlier social media remarks by Modi and Fadnavis suggesting that the party had failed to win any seats.

Fadnavis had posted that Congress had received a “big fat zero” in the elections. The Maharashtra Congress unit subsequently shared a screenshot of the deleted post and criticised the chief minister for commenting before all results had been finalised.

The state Congress unit also took a dig at Fadnavis over the deletion of his post. Party leaders argued that the final outcome in Nagpur contradicted the earlier claim about Congress drawing a blank.

Modi had also mocked Congress over its expected performance in the elections. Following Wanjari’s victory, Congress leaders said the result had overturned that narrative.

The political exchanges came against the backdrop of a closely fought contest in Nagpur, where BJP leaders had campaigned for Kohale.

Maha Vikas Aghadi wins three of five MLC seats

The Nagpur result was part of elections to five Maharashtra Legislative Council constituencies held on October 23. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won three seats, while the ruling Mahayuti alliance secured two.

The results were as follows:

• Pune graduates’ constituency: Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) won.
• Pune teachers’ constituency: BJP candidate Kaustubh Gawade won.
• Nagpur graduates’ constituency: Congress candidate Abhijit Wanjari retained the seat.
• Amravati teachers’ constituency: Kiran Sarnaik of the Shiv Sena won.
• Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar graduates’ constituency: NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate Dr Pratap Sinh Patil won.

The results gave the opposition alliance three of the five seats, while the BJP and Shiv Sena, both part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, secured one seat each.

Wanjari’s victory was particularly notable because of Nagpur’s political importance to the BJP. However, the result concerned the graduates’ constituency and should not be interpreted as a verdict on the entire state or a prediction of future election outcomes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a swipe at the Congress on Wednesday after the party failed to win any seats in Legislative Council by-elections held across four states. Referring to the use of ballot papers in the elections, the Prime Minister questioned the party’s performance in the contests.

The by-elections covered 28 Legislative Council seats across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Congress contested 12 seats, including four that it had previously held, but failed to secure a victory in any of them, according to the reported results.

The setback was particularly notable in Karnataka, where Congress is in power but did not win any of the four Legislative Council seats contested in the state.

What PM Modi said about the MLC election results

In a post on X, Modi referred to the elections held across the four states and highlighted that ballot papers had been used for voting.

“MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?” the Prime Minister wrote.

He accompanied the post with a monocle emoji, adding a mocking tone to his question about the party’s performance.

The reference to ballot papers came amid the Congress’s broader objections to electronic voting machines and its demands for a return to paper ballots. Modi’s post drew attention to the party’s failure to win any of the seats it contested in these particular elections.

Congress draws a blank across four states

The Legislative Council by-elections covered constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka.

Congress contested 12 of the 28 seats but could not secure a win. Four of the seats it contested had previously been held by the party.

Karnataka emerged as a significant setback for Congress, which governs the state. The party failed to win any of the four seats contested there.

The overall outcome provided the context for Modi’s remarks, which linked the election results to the use of ballot papers rather than electronic voting machines.

Why the ballot paper reference matters

Congress has raised concerns about the use of electronic voting machines and called for a return to ballot papers. Modi’s post drew a contrast between those demands and the party’s performance in elections conducted using paper ballots.

However, the results of these Legislative Council by-elections relate to the specific seats contested across the four states. They do not, by themselves, establish any broader conclusion about the integrity of other elections or the merits of different voting systems.

The Prime Minister’s remarks were a political swipe at Congress following its performance in the MLC bypolls.