Editorials

The Irish Times view on the Indian election: Modi holds on, but needs to listen to voters

The prime minister’s third term in office will be constrained by the need to share power with secular allies, while he also needs to address the economic concerns of the electorate

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi makes a victory sign to supporters at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters after the results of the general elections were announced.in New Delhi.(Photo: Atul Loke/The New York Times)

Thu Jun 6 2024 - 20:40

If there was one clear message from India’s vast electorate – 642 million voted – it is that “Hindutva”, prime minister Narendra Modi’s project to turn India into a majoritarian Hindu-nationalist state, is not acceptable. The increasingly authoritarian Modi will get his third term as prime minister, but will be constrained by sharing power with secular allies.

The strong majority which polls suggested he would get was denied to him by a united opposition alliance (INDIA) led by the Indian National Congress party of Rahul Gandhi and two dozen regional parties.

In the 2019 elections, Modi’s Bhwasaratiya Janata Party (BJP) won 303 of the 543 seats in India’s lower house, Lok Sabha. His government also included 50 MPs from minor coalition partners. This time, with only 240 seats, the BJP will need partners to control parliament, who will not espouse Hindutva. On Wednesday those allies agreed to support the new government, expected to be sworn in on Saturday.

After ten years in power Modi remains popular, but his third term was only assured by a crackdown on opposition parties, seizing campaign cash and jailing leaders for alleged corruption, and his total domination of the press and television. His virulent anti-Muslim propaganda and promotion of Hindu nationalism has dangerously inflamed sectarian tensions.

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Modi, who recently claimed that his birth was not a “biological” event but that he had been sent by God, has overplayed his hand and now may be forced into uncharacteristic dialogue and compromises. Significantly, there are signs in the returns that Modi may have alienated important sections of his Hindu base. The BJP lost ground in some of its traditional strongholds, including India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.

The loss of the Faizabad constituency, home to the lavish temple in Ayodhya, controversially personally inaugurated by Modi, was particularly significant. It was the culmination of a Hindu campaign to build a temple on the site of a centuries-old mosque illegally demolished by a Hindu mob in 1992. However, rather than winning support for the BJP, the lavish spending involved the displacement of some locals who also feared that a big majority for the party would allow them to upend minority rights , including job quotas.

Since his first term in 2014, there is no doubt that road, rail and energy infrastructure has boomed across the country. India has created a digital welfare state and the nation’s confidence on the world stage has grown. But income and wealth inequality is among the world’s highest, and poverty, although partially alleviated by welfare, remains Voters were most worried about the lack of jobs and high inflation.

Unless Modi heeds the message they sent him, his renewed tenure is likely to be bumpy.

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