India: Modi-led opposition storms to historic election win

May 16, 2014 | By hromedia | Reply More

May 16, – Opposition candidate Narendra Modi will be the next prime minister of India, with counting trends showing the pro-business Hindu nationalist and his party headed for the most resounding election victory the country has seen in 30 years.

Modi’s landslide was welcomed with a thundering rally on India’s stock markets and raucous celebrations at offices across the country of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), where supporters danced, exploded fireworks and handed out sweets.

The BJP looked certain of a parliamentary majority, giving the 63-year-old former tea-seller ample room to advance economic reforms which were started 23 years ago by current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but stalled in recent years.

Singh’s Congress party suffered its worst ever wipeout, a big boost to Modi’s goal of ending the dominance of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has governed for most of the 67 years of independent India.

Singh congratulated Modi on Friday with a telephone call.

Crowds surged around Modi’s car after he visited his mother’s home in the western state of Gujarat. He sent a message saying “India has won,” that instantly set a record as the country’s most retweeted Twitter post.

“I’m so happy because all of India wanted a strong government,” shouted software engineer Vinod Rai at the BJP’s Delhi headquarters. Rai echoed the sentiments of millions of Indians who bought into Modi’s promises of job creation and economic growth to satisfy a bulging youth population.

With more than six times the seats of its closest rival, Modi’s is the most decisive mandate for any leader since the 1984 assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi propelled her son to office. Since 1989, India has been governed by coalitions.

The BJP was winning in 278 seats of the 543-seat parliament, counting trends showed. An alliance led by the party was ahead in 337 seats.

India’s election was the world’s largest ever. Staggered over five weeks, a record of more than 500 million ballots were cast from the Himalayas in the north to the tropical south, with voters braving blistering heat for a record 66 percent turnout.

Since being named as his party’s candidate last September, Modi has flown 300,000 km (186,000 miles) and addressed 457 rallies in a slick, presidential-style campaign that broke the mould of Indian politics.

Modi contrasted his humble roots with the cloistered life of privilege of his dynastic rivals. He ran circles round his slow-footed opponent Rahul Gandhi, 43, from the Congress party which his family has dominated since his grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru led India to independence from Britain in 1947.

Press journalist for HRO media – Saurav Nag, reports.