Close X
Sunday, October 13, 2024
ADVT 
India

PM Modi wins historic 3rd term

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 04 Jun, 2024 09:40 AM
  • PM Modi wins historic 3rd term

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who claimed victory for his alliance in an election seen as a referendum on his decade in power, is a popular but polarizing leader who has presided over a fast-growing economy while advancing Hindu nationalism.

Modi, 73, is only the second Indian prime minister to win a third straight term.

His Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party failed to secure a majority on its own — as it did in 2014 and 2019 — after facing a stronger than expected challenge from the opposition. But together with other parties in his National Democratic Alliance, his bloc won enough seats for a slim parliamentary majority and to form his third consecutive government, Election Commission data showed Tuesday.

To supporters, Modi is a larger-than-life figure who has improved India’s standing in the world, helped make its economy the world’s fifth-largest, and streamlined the country’s vast welfare program, which serves around 60% of the population. To some, he may even be more than human.

But to critics, he’s a cult leader who has eroded India’s democracy and advanced divisive politics targeting the Muslimswho make up 14% of the country’s population. They say he has also increasingly wielded strong-arm tactics to subdue political opponents, squeeze independent media and quash dissent.

Modi’s government has rejected such accusations and says democracy is flourishing.

Political analysts say Modi’s victory was driven by social welfare programs that provided benefits from food to housing, and the strident Hindu nationalism that has consolidated a majority of Hindu votes for his party. Hindus make up 80% of India’s population.

The economy is growing by 7% and more than 500 million Indians have opened bank accounts during Modi's tenure, but that growth hasn't created enough jobs, and inequality has worsened under his rule, according to some economists.

Modi began his election campaign two months ago by promising to turn India into a developed country by 2047 and focused on highlighting his administration's welfare policies and a robust digital infrastructure that have benefited millions of Indians.

But as the campaign progressed, he increasingly resorted to anti-Muslim rhetoric, calling them “infiltrators" and making references to a Hindu nationalist claim that Muslims were overtaking the Hindu population by having more children. Modi also accused the opposition of pandering to the minority community.

Conspicous piety has long been a centerpiece of Modi's brand, but he's also begun suggesting that he was chosen by God.

In a TV interview during the campaign, he said “When my mother was alive, I used to believe that I was born biologically. After she passed away, upon reflecting on all my experiences, I was convinced that God had sent me.”

In January, he delivered on a longstanding Hindu nationalist ambition by leading the opening of a controversial temple on the site of a razed mosque.

After campaigning ended last week, Modi went to a Hindu spiritual site for a televised 45-hour meditation retreat. Most Indian TV channels spent hours showing the event.

Born in 1950 to a lower-caste family in western Gujarat state, as a young boy Modi joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a paramilitary, right-wing group which has long been accused of stoking hatred against Muslims. RSS is the ideological parent of Modi's BJP.

The tea seller's son got his first big political break in 2001, becoming chief minister of his home state of Gujarat. A few months in, anti-Muslim riots ripped through the region, killing at least 1,000 people. There were suspicions that Modi quietly supported the riots, but he has denied the allegations.

In 2005, the U.S. revoked Modi’s visa, citing concerns that he did not act to stop the communal violence. An investigation approved by the Indian Supreme Court later absolved Modi, but the stain of the dark moment has lingered.

Thirteen years later, Modi led his Hindu nationalist party to a spectacular victory in the 2014 national elections after promising sweeping reforms to jumpstart India’s flagging economy.

But Modi's critics and opponents say his Hindu-first politics have bred intolerance, hate speech and brazen attacks against the country’s minorities, especially Muslims.

Months after securing a second term in 2019, his government revoked the special status of disputed Kashmir, the country’s only Muslim-majority state, and split it into two federally governed territories. His government passed a law that grants citizenship to religious minorities from Muslim countries in the region but excludes Muslims.

Decision like these have made Modi hugely popular among his diehard supporters who hail him as the champion of the Hindu majority and see India emerging as a Hindu majoritarian state.

Modi has spent his political life capitalizing on religious tensions for political gain, said Christophe Jaffrelot, a political scientist and expert on Modi and the Hindu right. During his time as a state leader, he pioneered a embrace of Hindu nationalism unlike anything seen before in Indian politics.

“That style has remained. It was invented in Gujarat and today it is a national brand," Jaffrelot said.

MORE India ARTICLES

Akali Dal smells Rs 500cr AAP liquor scam in Punjab

Akali Dal smells Rs 500cr AAP liquor scam in Punjab
Addressing the media here, Badal said "there should be a free and fair inquiry against all political leaders, including Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and MP Raghav Chadha, as well as Punjab government officials who facilitated the scam".

Akali Dal smells Rs 500cr AAP liquor scam in Punjab

Drugs, pistol, ammunition recovered from near int'l border in Punjab

Drugs, pistol, ammunition recovered from near int'l border in Punjab
The contraband was hidden in the large growth of elephantine grass near border pillar No. 29/09, which was recovered by a BSF patrolling party led by Deputy Commandant Jaipal Singh. The BSF has lodged an FIR with the police but no arrests have been made so far.

Drugs, pistol, ammunition recovered from near int'l border in Punjab

Sonali Phogat's death appears to be due to cardiac arrest: Goa CM

Sonali Phogat's death appears to be due to cardiac arrest: Goa CM
On Tuesday, the Police had written to the Department of Forensic Medicine at Goa Medical College for appointing a panel of doctors for conducting the post-mortem.  The autopsy is expected to be conducted later in the day.

Sonali Phogat's death appears to be due to cardiac arrest: Goa CM

Gurugram: Man arrested for selling fake vehicle insurance policies

Gurugram: Man arrested for selling fake vehicle insurance policies
Accused Rahul Kumar was arrested by cyber crime police station team (east) of the Gurugram police on Monday. Rahul Kumar was on the run since June 2021 when he along with his accomplice had duped a Gurugram resident of Rs 51,218 on the pretext of renewing his vehicle policy.

Gurugram: Man arrested for selling fake vehicle insurance policies

It's equally important to develop health services: Modi at Punjab cancer hospital opening

It's equally important to develop health services: Modi at Punjab cancer hospital opening
The foundation stone of the cancer hospital, the first of its kind cancer care in north India, was laid by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on December 30, 2013. At that time Parkash Singh Badal was the Chief Minister of Punjab in a coalition of the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government.

It's equally important to develop health services: Modi at Punjab cancer hospital opening

BJP leader Sonali Phogat passes away in Goa

BJP leader Sonali Phogat passes away in Goa
The leader, who complained of uneasiness on Monday night, was taken to hospital at around 8 a.m. this morning, where she was declared brought dead. Sonali Phogat had contested the 2019 Haryana Assembly election from Adampur and lost to Congress candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi.

BJP leader Sonali Phogat passes away in Goa