Narendra Modi-led BJP returns to power in India with massive electoral win

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has swept to a huge election victory, giving his party a mandate to pursue policies that put Hindus first, are mainly business-friendly and take a hard line on national security.

Official data from India’s Election Commission showed Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead in 303 of the 542 seats available, many more than the 272 seats needed for a majority in the lower house of parliament.

That would give it the first back-to-back majority for a single party since 1984.  It is also the first non-Congress party to return to power The main opposition Congress Party had picked up only 52 seats.

It has been termed a massive victory for both Modi and the BJP, who can now form a government on their own without support from allies. The total number of seats won by the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is 350 seats.

The mood was upbeat at BJP headquarters in New Delhi, with party workers setting off firecrackers and cheering as TV channels reported the margin of victory.

“It’s obviously not in our favour at all,” said Salman Soz, a Congress spokesman. “We need to wait for the full results but right now it doesn’t look good.”

NDTV and rival channel CNN News 18 have called the election for Modi’s coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The NDA’s predicted margin of victory is much larger than surveys indicated in the run-up to the vote, when most polls showed it would be the largest alliance but would fall short of an overall majority.

Final results are due by Thursday evening.

Security swing 

Modi was under pressure when he began campaigning, losing three state elections in December amid rising anger over farm prices and unemployment.

However, campaigning shifted towards India’s relationship with nuclear-armed rival Pakistan after a suicide car bomb killed 40 Indian police in the contested Kashmir region in February, to the benefit of the right-wing BJP, analysts said. Members of his party now want him to take a harder line on national security, as well as build a temple on a contested site.

I want Modi to finish terrorism from Kashmir (and) make Pakistan bite the dust again and again,” Shekhar Chahal, a BJP worker from New Delhi said on Thursday. “I am confident that Modi will also make the temple in Ayodhya.”

Long-time foe Pakistan has signalled a willingness to open peace talks with India, but in a possible warning, it announced that it has conducted a training launch of a surface-to-surface ballistic missile, which it said is capable of delivering conventional and nuclear weapons at a range of up to 1,500 miles.

The BJP has also capitalised on the star power of Modi, a frenetic campaigner, as well as superior financial resources.

It outspent Congress by six times on Facebook and Google advertising, data showed, and by as much as 20 times overall, sources told Reuters this month.

The poor showing from Congress, which has failed to make inroads against Modi despite widespread voter dissatisfaction, will lead to questions over the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, a scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty whose father, grandmother and great grandfather all served as prime minister.

“The Congress party has not been able to improve at all,” said Rahul Verma, a fellow at the centre for Policy Research in New Delhi.
“One big story is the emerging challenge for the Congress to remain a national alternative to the BJP. That now is under question.”

Battle of Bengal 

The BJP performed strongly in several states where it has previously struggled, including in West Bengal, where it targeted the Trinamool Congress, a powerful regional party in campaigning that often turned violent.

The BJP was leading in 17 of 42 seats in the state, which sends the third largest number of lawmakers to parliament, significantly better than the two it won in 2014, Election Commission data showed.

“The party is heading for a stunning victory in West Bengal,” said Jayprakash Majumdar, a BJP vice president in the state.

Indian stocks surged to historic highs as Modi headed for victory. The broad Nifty index rose as much as 2 percent, continuing a strong run after exit polls showing a Modi victory were released on Sunday.

The rupee headed towards 69.20 to the dollar, up from the 69.67 close on Wednesday, while the yield on the 10-year bond dropped 3 bps to 7.23 percent.

“For global investors, political stability and continuity is an important factor while taking a view on investing in any country,” said R Sivakumar, head of fixed income at Axis Mutual Fund in Mumbai. “This will keep India on the radar of global equity investors.”

World takes note

‘India wins yet again,’ tweeted Modi, as his victory became imminent. ‘Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India.’

In his victory speech later he said, ‘We all want a new India. I want to bow down my head and say thank you,’ promising that ‘the work you have given me in the coming days I will not do anything with bad intentions. There can be mistakes while doing work, but there will be no work that will come out of bad intentions.’ He also promised that his party would ‘look ahead and take everybody along including our rivals.’

World leaders have been sending in congratulatory messages to Modi.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau of Israel was one of the first to congratulate Modi on his “impressive election victory.” The official Twitter account for the prime minister’s office wrote: “Together we will continue to strengthen the great friendship between India & Israel.”

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called up Modi to comfratu;ate him, expressing “conviction” that he would  ‘further strengthen the long standing friendship between the peoples of both countries and enhance the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership that bind the two countries together’/

Japan’s Shinzo Abe similarly congratulated the reelected Modi on  his ‘resounding victory; Chinese premier Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory  letter to Modi. COngratulatory messages poured in from the UAE, France, Australia, Britain and even from neighbouring Pakistan. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also reached out to Modi with a congratulatory tweet and hoping to ‘working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia.’ Similar messages came from Afghanistan’s President Ghani, Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan’s King Jigme Wangchuk and Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli.

US president Donald Trump also tweeted his congratulations to Modi and his BJP party on their ‘BIG election victory’, saying ‘Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm’.

– With input from Reuters

Aditi Bhaduri

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