BJP declares new era in India after landslide victory

NEW DELHI, May 16 (agencies): India's triumphant Hindu nationalists declared "a new era" in the world's biggest democracy Friday after hardline leader Narendra Modi propelled them to a stunning win, promising to revitalise the sickly economy.
Preliminary 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 in 30 years.
Most of the poverty-wracked country's 1.2 billion people-more than half of whom are under 25 -- have never witnessed such dominance having grown up in an era of fractious coalition politics.
Modi, the 63-year-old son of a tea seller tainted by anti-Muslim riots in his home state of Gujarat in 2002, wrote on Twitter that "India has won. Good days are coming."
The stunning results exceeded all forecasts. Firecrackers exploded at BJP offices around the country, sweets were handed out to celebrate and painted elephants paraded in front of party headquarters.
The triumph redraws India's political map, elevating the BJP to a pan-national power, handing Modi a huge mandate for change and heaping humiliation on the ruling Gandhi political dynasty.
The immediate change Modi will need to deliver is an improvement in the economy, growing at its slowest rate in a decade, and his commitment to the BJP's Hindu nationalist agenda will be closely watched by India's 150 million Muslims.
"It is dawn of a new era. The lotus has bloomed all over India now," said BJP president Rajnath Singh, referring to the flower symbol of his party whose previous all-time high was 182 seats in 1999.
"I appeal to my workers that even in this historic victory they maintain discipline and calm, against any section or people," he added, hinting at the fears of religious tensions.
Preliminary figures from the Election Commission showed the BJP winning 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.
The Congress party, the national secular force that has run India for all but 13 years since independence, was set to crash to its worst ever result after a decade in power.
"Modi promised the moon and stars to the people. People bought that dream," senior Congress leader and spokesman Rajeev Shukla told reporters as preliminary results showed the party winning only 42 seats.
Outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who said in January that Modi would be "disastrous for the country" after "presiding over the massacre of innocents", called to congratulate him, his office said.
The disastrous showing for Congress is a humiliating blow to the scion of the Gandhi dynasty, 43-year-old Rahul, whose first performance as chief national campaigner will lead to acrimonious fallout.
The country's most illustrious political family has provided three prime ministers and Rahul's mother Sonia is president of the party.
"We need a complete overhaul, starting from the top," one senior Congress leader told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Earlier in the day, a group of Congress supporters shouted slogans in support of Rahul's more popular sister Priyanka outside party headquarters.
Modi has reinvented himself from a controversial regional leader accused of turning a blind eye to religious riots in 2002 to an aspiring prime minister intent on helping India fulfil its potential.
His promises to revive the economy have won him corporate cheerleaders, while his rags-to-riches story and reputation as a clean and efficient administrator satisfy many Indians' desire for strong leadership.
Attacks from his opponents-one called him a "devil" and the "Butcher of Gujarat"-as well as warnings from secular-minded critics and religious minorities have failed to dent his rise.
While Singh, 81, was hailed by US President Barack Obama as a "wise and decent man", Modi presents an awkward prospect for Washington and other Western powers.
The bachelor, elected three times as chief minister in his home state, was boycotted by the US and European powers over the 2002 Gujarat riots that left around 1,000 dead.
He denies that he turned a blind eye to the bloodshed and investigators have never found evidence of wrongdoing.
David Cameron, the prime minister of former colonial ruler Britain, was among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Modi, saying he was "keen to work together to get the most from UK-India relationship".
Meanwhile: The country may face a spell of "communalism" with the BJP set to form the next government at the centre, the Shahi Imam of Delhi, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, said Friday.
"It is likely that we will be moving towards communalism," Bukahri said.
He added that the "division of the secular vote" contributed to the improved performance of the BJP.
"The new government has to decide whether it will follow its own agenda or the constitution. If it follows the former, it poses a danger to the country. In a democracy, all kinds of things are said during an election. But afterwards, it is hoped that after capturing power, the new government will consider the country and its development first and take into account all religions before making any decision. The country cannot be run by breaking hearts," Bukahri told IANS.
Asked if he feared discrimination of the minorities during the BJP rule, Bukhari said that "there are no two opinions that since the 2002 Gujarat riots, the Muslim community does not like Narendra Modi and that sentiment stays. Only time will tell what he gives or does not give to the minorities."