Indian results from elections
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decisively dominated the politics of India for ten years.
But when the results came in on Tuesday, Modi’s hold was weakening.
Leading India’s Bharatiya Janata Party, Modi is declaring victory for an unprecedented third term as prime leader of that nation. Though Modi will continue to occupy office, his party’s performance fell short of his expectations.
Modi’s party lost its majority in Parliament when India completed counting the ballots in its general election. It is a severe setback for Modi, whose party was long predicted to gain a majority.
He must now assemble enough friends to establish a government.
The Indian National Congress, the main opposition party to the BJP, did better than anticipated.
As of Tuesday night Eastern Time, the Indian National Congress had secured 99 seats, more than doubling its 52 members in Parliament.
The surprising outcomes suggest that voters’ confidence in the BJP is eroding in an election with record voter turnout—642 million people cast ballots in the seven-phase process that started in April and finished on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera.
The Hindutva ideology of the BJP encourages Hindu nationalism, which some have charged with igniting right-wing extremism and anti-Muslim hatred.
Business Insider earlier reported that Modi has even charged the Congress party with arranging to divide India’s riches among the Muslim minority. Reuters said Modi denied aiming to win over the Hindu majority by disparaging the Muslim minority.
Despite his continued popularity across India, some see Modi as an authoritarian leader, and on Tuesday, his detractors said that indications of his declining authority were a triumph for democracy.
“Moral & political failure” for Modi, according to PBS NewsHour, was the assessment of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. “This is democracy’s and the public’s victory,” he said.
Former RBI of India governor Raghuram Rajan mirrored Kharge’s observation in a LinkedIn article.
The Indian people have spoken, wrote Rajan. What a sensible choice that was as well! Both Indian democracy and the Indian economy will benefit from this. Whatever transpires within the next three days, we will have a robust opposition that compels the administration to alter its direction.”
