It's official! The results of the 2014 Indian general election have been declared, and as predicted by opinion polls, BJP-led NDA coalition has emerged victorious. The election was for 543 seats of the 16th Lok Sabha, the lower House of Parliament, and the number of seats required by any single party/coalition to stake claim to form a government is 272.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is a coalition of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies, has won 336 seats. The BJP alone has won 282 seats, which means the party has secured an absolute majority on its own. This is for the first time in 30 years that a single party has crossed the magic figure of 272 on its own.
The man who led the BJP-led NDA to victory, Narendra Modi, will take over as the next Prime Minister.
With people losing confidence in the Congress-led UPA governance under Manmohan Singh due to growing corruption and sinking economy, the writing was already on the wall for the Congress. And as expected, the Congress-led UPA coalition, which has governed India for the last decade, has been routed, winning only 59 seats. It should be noted that the Congress has won only 44 seats on its own.
With just 44 seats, the Congress party is the biggest loser in this election. So much so, that the grand old party of India doesn't even qualify for role of opposition leader in the new Lok Sabha because a party has to win a minimum of 54 seats to claim the post of Leader of Opposition.
It's true that elections in India are not fought between personalities; however, this election was a personality clash between two leaders, Narendra Modi of BJP and Rahul Gandhi of the Congress.
In the lead-up to the elections, while Narendra Modi emerged as the favorite of the masses and became a powerful political brand, Rahul Gandhi failed to impress the nation and came across as a novice. No wonder, the results aren't a surprise at all.
Narendra Modi, the three-term chief minister of Gujarat, one of the most industrialized states in India, is the best hope to lead the country effectively now as he is a decisive leader, say his supporters.
But critics who love to demonize Modi say he is a divisive leader, and they rake up the issue of *2002 Gujarat riots to support their argument. *In 2002, communal riots broke out between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat, which reportedly left more than 1,000 dead, and Modi was accused of intentionally failing to protect Muslins during the violence.
However, a Special Investigation Team (SIT), appointed in 2009 by the Supreme Court of India, to probe the Gujarat riots filed a closure report in 2012 for lack of evidence to prosecute Modi and others over complicity in the violence. Last December, a lower court in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, also upheld the SIT's decision.
Citing the 2002 riots, the U.S. denied Modi a visa in March 2005 under section *212(a)(2)(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. *The section 212(a)(2)(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act makes any foreign government official who "was responsible for or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom" ineligible for a visa to the United States.
However, a report released by the U.S. Congressional Research Service in March of this year says that Modi would automatically be eligible for an A-1 (diplomatic) visa as head of the state, regardless of the purpose of his visit if he were to become Prime Minister. So the visa flap could become a non-issue in the wake of Modi becoming the Prime Minister.
Narendra Modi will be sworn in as the Prime Minister on May 21, according to reports.
Several world leaders, including the heads of government of the U.S., Britain, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Australia and Israel, have greeted Modi on his thumping victory in the election.
The U.S. President Barack Obama telephoned Modi on Friday to congratulate him on his party's success in the election and has invited him to visit Washington.
The following is a readout of Obama's call with Narendra Modi.
"The President noted he looks forward to working closely with Mr. Modi to fulfill the extraordinary promise of the U.S.-India strategic partnership, and they agreed to continue expanding and deepening the wide-ranging cooperation between our two democracies. The President invited Narendra Modi to visit Washington at a mutually agreeable time to further strengthen our bilateral relationship".
Now that Modi has got a clear mandate to govern India, the world's largest democracy, so what's next?
Well, he will have to deliver on his poll promises of addressing inflation and internal security, create jobs, put the country's economy back on track, and above all restore people's confidence in the government. So, all of this means that Narendra Modi has his work cut out for him.
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