Christians in India are seeing signs of hope in the wake of the country’s recent parliamentary elections, according to the religious freedom group, Open Doors.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party won more seats than any other party at 240, they were below the 272 needed for a parliamentary majority. This means he won’t have a ‘free hand’ to pursue their Hindu nationalist ‘Hindutva’ agenda.

They’ve had to form a coalition with other parties, including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal (United) (JDU). These two regional parties are fundamentally opposed to the Hindutva agenda of the BJP and are known to support religious minorities.

This all indicates the Indian public is increasingly rejecting the BJP’s Hindu nationalistic agenda.

“The election result means that the BJP’s polarisation and divisive politics against religious minorities will be less brazen at the national level,” said one local Open Doors partner from central India.