India’s Election Result

The Heat

Narendra Modi  is set to become India’s new prime minister. What will this mean for Muslim minorities in India? Will he be able to turn around India’s sluggish economy?

India’s general election was the world’s largest democratic exercise in history. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata won the majority of seats needed to form a government with its leader Narendra Modi serving as prime minister.

However, Modi is seen as a dividing figure.  His critics accuse him of being complicit in the deadly 2002 Hindu-Muslim riots in the western Indian state of Gujarat , when Modi was the state’s chief minister.  The 63-year-old still struggles to remove the perception that he did not do enough to stop the mob violence, despite being cleared by the country’s Supreme Court. As far as India’s economy,  his supporters believe he could help reverse the slowdown.

Winning an absolute majority has grown more difficult for India’s two main national parties.  Congress, which has been in power for tenyears, received a serious backlash from voters.

So, are these election results a sign of anti-incumbency sentiment or is it just plain economics? Correspondent Ravinder Bawa reports the latest from the ground in New Delhi.

 Juned Qazi, the president of the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Indian National Overseas Congress ,  Milan Vaishnav, an associate at the South Asia Program Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Srinivas Regula from India’s Andhra Pradesh discuss the historical result and its implications.

Implications of India\'s Election Results-Part 1

Juned Qazi, the president of the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Indian National Overseas Congress , Milan Vaishnav, an associate at the South Asia Program Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Srinivas Regula from India’s Andhra Pradesh discuss the historical result and its implications.

Implications of India\'s Election Results Part-2

Juned Qazi, the president of the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Indian National Overseas Congress , Milan Vaishnav, an associate at the South Asia Program Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Srinivas Regula from India’s Andhra Pradesh discuss the historical result and its implications.

Narendra Modi has campaigned on the economic record of his home state of Gujarat and presented himself as the pro-business candidate. But will he be able to turn around India’s sluggish economy and create jobs?  What will a Narendra Modi government mean for India’s economy?

Anchor Anand Naidoo discusses these questions with Chidanand Rajghatta foreign editor at the Times of India.