Modi wins landslide victory

FE Team | Published: May 17, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

NEW DELHI, May 16 (Agencies): Narendra Modi created history Friday on his way to becoming India's 14th prime minister as he led the BJP to a spectacular victory in a Lok Sabha battle that crushed the Congress and others ranged against him and gave, for the first time in 30 years, any party a majority in parliament on its own.
Even political pundits gasped at the sheer scale of the Bharatiya Janata Party's sweep that election officials said was poised to give it a comfortable majority in the 545-member Lok Sabha even without the aid of its old and new allies.
Results at the end of the marathon six-week election showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by prime ministerial candidate Modi on track for the first parliamentary majority by a single party since 1984.
Tens of thousands of BJP supporters celebrated the party's victory all over the country. In New Delhi, thousands gathered at the BJP headquarters dancing, bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets.
Narendra Modi may take as prime minister of India on May 21. According to party source, BJP parliamentary board meeting will be held Saturday. After the meeting, the BJP leaders will met President of India Pranab Mukherjee.
Election Commission figures showed the BJP likely to win more than the 272 seats required for a majority on its own in the 543-seat parliament, with victories by its allies taking it easily in excess of 330.
However, after a decade in power, India's ruling Congress Party conceded Friday that it is headed to defeat.
India's benchmark stock index soared over six per cent to a record high Friday after right-wing opposition leader Narendra Modi scored a landslide election victory, and then pulled back on profit-taking.
The Bombay Stock Exchange index, known as the Sensex, climbed 6.15 per cent to 25,375.63 points as results showed Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on track for a parliamentary majority after the marathon staggered poll.
Narendra Modi promised to work to "fulfil the dreams of 1.2 billion people" as he addressed cheering supporters for the first time Friday after a landslide Indian election victory for his Hindu nationalist party.
A sea of well-wishers from across his constituency of Vadodara in Gujarat turned out to hear the 63-year-old former tea boy who is poised to become prime minister of the world's second-most populous nation.
"The heat of the election is over and the people have given their verdict which says that we need to take India forward to fulfil the dreams of India's 1.2 billion people," he said.