Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed victory for his alliance on Tuesday in India’s general election, despite a lacklustre performance from his own party as it faced a stronger than expected challenge from the opposition.
FILE PHOTO: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves towards his supporters during a roadshow as part of an election campaign, in Kolkata, India, May 28, 2024. REUTERS/Sahiba Chawdhary/File Photo
Modi had set a target of more than 400 seats for his National Democratic Alliance , but it is currently leading in only about 290, according to Election Commission data about three-quarters of the way through the count. The BJP itself was leading in 239 seats, compared with 303 at the last election in 2019."The BJP's reliance on allies to form the government is a slap in the face," said Milan Vaishnav at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think-tank in Washington.
"Modi is not known as a consensual figure," said New Delhi-based political commentator Arathi Jerath."So, it'll be very interesting to see how he manages the pulls and pressures of a coalition government." "Employment is a challenge that we also accept and whatever best can be done is being done," spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal said.
Despite India's impressive economic growth of more than 8%, rural distress has increased as incomes have fallen amid rising food prices.While headline inflation hovering around 5% is relatively low, food inflation of above 8% since November 2023 has hit the poor hard. Prices of vegetables and cereals have risen by double digits for most of the last year.
"I believe that the polarising campaign that the prime minister ran this time, the kind of, you know, hyped-up media outreach that he did, I think these were all signs that he was worried," said political commentator Arati Jerath."We discussed internally how our work, economic development, India's global image and such things sometimes do not set the narrative," said spokesperson Agarwal.
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