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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a new five-year term after a landslide victory in the general election.
The results so far show that his party Bharatiya Janata (BJP) is expected to win about 300 of the 543 seats in parliament. The main opposition alliance, led by Rahul Gandhi's congressional party, acknowledged his defeat.
The vote was widely regarded as a referendum on the prime minister's Hindu nationalist policy. More than 600 million people voted in a six-week marathon process.
Modi not only surpbaded the exit polls but also won a larger share of the vote than the 2014 elections, according to partial results.
"Thank you India!" the prime minister tweeted. "The faith placed in our covenant is a source of humility and gives us the strength to work even harder to achieve the aspirations of each."
At a press conference in Delhi, opposition leader Gandhi admitted the general elections and his amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh – which he had held since 2004 and his family for decades.
What are the numbers?
Partial and declared results show that Modi's BJP is expected to win 300 seats, while the main opposition alliance led by Rahul Gandhi's Congress party is expected to win less than 100 seats.
A party or coalition needs at least 272 seats to win a majority in the lower house of parliament, which has 543 members, or Lok Sabha.
In 2014, the BJP won 282 seats – the biggest all-party victory in 30 years – and with its allies won 336 seats in that parliament.
The Congress, which won only 44 votes, suffered its worst defeat in 2014 and, with its allies, 60 seats in the lower house.
This year, 900 million voters were able to participate in seven rounds of voting, making it the largest election ever seen in the world.
The results are published in phases by the electoral commission, but a final result may not be known for several hours or more.
An election all around him
Narendra Modi made an election about himself.
He should have faced an anti-titular feeling. Unemployment has reached a record high, farm incomes have fallen and industrial production has collapsed.
Many Indians were hard hit by the currency prohibition (also called demonetization), which aimed to eliminate undeclared wealth. Criticism has been made about what critics have termed a poorly designed and complicated uniform sales tax.
The results show that people do not blame Mr. Modi yet for that.
A combination of nationalist rhetoric, subtle religious polarization and a multitude of social badistance programs helped Modi win a second consecutive victory. He has also exploited national security to obtain votes in a way never seen during general elections in recent history.
"Everything is fine if there is little development, but Modi ensures the security of the nation and the head of India," said a constituent of the city of Kolkata, in a statement. east of the country.
Mr. Modi is a strong man, and people probably love him for that.
What was the answer?
At the BJP headquarters in Delhi, party members cheered, distributed candy and set fireworks as the results were announced.
Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, a senior BJP official, said in a tweet that the BJP had won a "mbadive victory".
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated Modi on his victory on Twitter and declared himself eager to work with him for "peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia".
Zubair Ahmed, of the BBC in Delhi, said the Congress Party staff, hoping for improved performance, seemed out of words.
Where were the key competitions?
It is often said that whoever wins Uttar Pradesh wins the Indian elections. The huge northern state sends 80 deputies – more than anyone else – to parliament. In 2014, the BJP won 71 seats. It is currently expected that he will get nearly 50% of the votes.
This is despite a rapprochement between two powerful regional parties, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP). The bitter rivals came together to form a so-called "grand alliance" against Modi and were to win more seats than the ruling party.
The BJP is doing better than expected in West Bengal, where it holds only two of the 42 parliamentary seats.
Here, he clashes with Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee – strident criticism of Mr. Modi – and occupies the top of the rankings with 17 seats.
Four of the five southern states of India – Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala – have long escaped the BJP and seem to have done so again in this election.
Of the 91 seats in these states, the BJP has only four. In this part of the country, the party has only few seats and relies instead on alliances with regional heavyweights.
What challenges does Modi face?
Increasing unemployment and India's fears of entering a recession will cause Mr. Modi to cope with the demand to create jobs for the millions of young people entering the labor market in the coming months. come.
Under his first term, the Indian economy – the sixth largest in the world – has lost momentum. A government report leaked this year has put the unemployment rate at its highest since the 1970s.
Indian farmers will also hope that it will give priority to the agricultural industry, after crops have been saturated and commodity prices have fallen and their incomes have stagnated.
Many saw in this election a battle for Indian identity and the protection of minorities. Strident – and sometimes violent – Hindu nationalism has become commonplace in the last five years, with an upsurge in attacks on minorities, including the lynching of tens of Muslims accused of trafficking cows.
And national security was put in the spotlight after the suicide attack of a Pakistan-based militant group that killed at least 40 paramilitary policemen in Indian-administered Kashmir in February. India then launched unprecedented air strikes in Pakistan, prompting it to react in this way and bring the two countries to the brink of war.
Source: BBC
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