New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed an “inclusive” future for all Indians on Thursday after a landslide election victory that crushed the Gandhi dynasty’s comeback hopes once again.
“Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India. India wins yet again!,” Modi tweeted as supporters of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) celebrated nationwide.
“The faith placed in our alliance is humbling and gives us strength to work even harder to fulfil people’s aspirations,” he said before arriving at BJP headquarters flashing victory signs with both hands and being showered in petals.
The BJP’s headquarters in Delhi erupted in celebration with drummers, firecrackers, dancing and singing as hundreds of party faithful thronged the yard and nearby streets waiting for Modi.
“Modi will make India great again. Modi is the strongest prime minister India has ever had and will get. We need to support his policies to prosper,” said one supporter, Santosh Joshi.
At Congress headquarters, a handful of dejected supporters sat in groups under the shade of trees.
India’s main Sensex index breached the 40,000-point level for the first time as the count pointed to a Modi win, following strong gains since Monday.
Modi’s charisma found appeal across all sections of the society, attracting even the fence-sitters to the BJP fold. Also much of the credit for the victory goes to the election management skills of Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, and their approach in putting together a winning team.
In fact, leaders of various political parties are now crowding together to praise the duo for their party’s unprecedented win.
Modi himself won from Varanasi with a margin of over 360,000 votes while Shah won from Gandhinagar in their home state of Gujarat by over 400,000 votes.
But many believe that BJP as a party did not win this election; it was the Modi factor that worked in the favour of the saffron party.
“One must understand that as a party BJP did not win this election at all. If Modi had not been in BJP, it would have never won so many seats. It was Modi’s individual charisma that lured the voters to the polling stations. Besides, Modi has always believed in development without discrimination, empowerment without appeasement,” political analyst Avtar Negi told Gulf News.
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav explained to Gulf News why people decided to give another term to the saffron party.
“The BJP government worked for the benefit of all and without any ulterior motives. It never indulged in vote bank politics. That made us win. It was always going to be a decisive triumph for us. This time, we performed even better than our result from 2014 general election. Look at the results in states where we were not always strong like Telangana, West Bengal, Odisha and the north-east. It shows support for BJP and NDA,” Madhav said.
BJP chief Shah himself believes the massive mandate was the result of the trust people reposed in Modi.
“This victory is India’s victory. This is the victory of the hopes of youths, the poor, and farmers. This massive win is the victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development and the people’s trust in him,” Shah told media.
Another reason why BJP registered a massive victory was because Congress failed to project a strong leader against Modi. Some Congress leaders also describe BJP’s victory as a clear mandate against minority appeasement and caste-based politics of the grand old party.
— with inputs from agencies
