PM felicitates Modi, looks forward to working with him for peace

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has swept to a huge election victory, his foreign minister said on Thursday, giving his party a mandate to pursue policies that put Hindus first, are mainly business-friendly and take a hard line on national security.

Thank you India! The faith placed in our alliance is humbling and gives us strength to work even harder to fulfil people's aspirations.

I salute every BJP Karyakarta for their determination, perseverance & hardwork. They went home to home, elaborating on our development agenda. — Chowkidar Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 23, 2019

Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led alliance is ahead with 349 of the 542 seats available, more than the 272 seats needed for a majority in the Lok Sabha. That would give it the first back-to-back majority for a single party since 1984. The main opposition Congress Party was ahead in 50 seats, figures showed. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, also a senior BJP leader, said on Twitter the BJP had won a “massive victory”. The mood was upbeat at BJP headquarters in New Delhi, with party workers setting off firecrackers and cheering as TV channels reported the margin of victory. “It’s a huge mandate for positive politics and the policies of Narendra Modi,” said GVL Narasimha Rao, a BJP spokesman. “It’s a huge win for India. We are humbled by the magnificence of this victory.” Congress leaders were sombre. “It’s obviously not in our favour at all,” said Salman Soz, a Congress spokesman. “We need to wait for the full results but right now it doesn’t look good.” NDTV and rival channel CNN News 18 have called the election for Modi’s coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The NDA’s predicted margin of victory is much larger than surveys indicated in the run-up to the vote, when most polls showed it would be the largest alliance but would fall short of an overall majority. Final results are due by Thursday evening.