Elections in India - nationalists win by a large margin for the third time
In India, a multi-week national election campaign for elections to the local Lok Sabha parliament has ended. Voting took place in each of the states - and there are 29 of them in India.
According to preliminary results, the clerical-nationalist National Democratic Alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is in the lead for the third consecutive term . This is according to exit polls released by NDTV.
According to exit polls, Modi's coalition has secured a majority in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, the lower house. The prime minister's allies will win between 359 and 371 seats there. The 28-party secular opposition coalition INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), led by Rahul Gandhi, heir to the Gandhi-Nehru clan, will receive between 125 and 154 seats.
However, the vote counting has not yet been completed. The Indian Election Commission plans to present the official election results on June 4.
Modi himself declared on his former Twitter account that reforms under the BJP have "transformed India into the world's fifth-largest economy."
Modi also claims that the opposition INDIA alliance "failed to resonate with voters." "They are casteist, communal, and corrupt. This alliance failed to present a future vision for the nation. Through this campaign, they have only gained experience in one thing—attacking Modi ," he noted.
It's worth noting that, contrary to these claims, it is Modi's party that, in its current policies, advocates an Indian version of far-right traditionalist values, rooted in Hindu fundamentalism. In particular, the BJP and its even more radical right-wing allies are stoking the Hindu majority's resentment of Indian Muslims. In foreign policy, India has become the only country in South and Southeast Asia to unequivocally and unconditionally support Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians.
Indian elections : Nationalists win by a landslide for the third time