Iran Press/Asia: Official data from India Election Commission showed Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead in 298 of the 542 seats available, up from the 282 it won in 2014 and more than the 272 seats needed for a majority in the Lok Sabha.
Modi's party is on course to increase its majority on a mandate of pursuing business-friendly policies and a hard line on national security, Reuters reported.
That would give it the first back-to-back majority for a single party since 1984.
“Together we will build a strong and inclusive India,” Modi said on Twitter on Thursday. “India wins yet again!”
Modi’s victory boosted financial markets as investors expect his government will continue to pursue economic reforms. He will be under pressure to create employment for the tens of millions of young people coming on to the jobs market in the next few years and to boost depressed farm incomes.
“The immediate challenges are to address employment, the issue of agricultural income and revive the banking sector,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Care Ratings in Mumbai.
But making good on his promise to unite the country will be difficult as the BJP campaign was often divisive, prompting the minority Muslim community to express fears that they were being treated as second-class citizens.
At BJP headquarters in New Delhi, party workers set off firecrackers and began decorating the building with floral decorations ahead of an expected victory party.
“It’s a stamp of approval by voters on the honest and decisive leadership of Prime Minister Modi,” said Nalin S Kohli, a BJP spokesman. 104
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