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Who is Narendra Modi?
From CNN’s Rhea Mogul
Born into poverty three years after India’s independence, Narendra Modi has ascended to the pinnacle of the nation’s political landscape.
Modi’s father Damordas was a “chaiwallah”, or tea seller, at the family’s local train station in the western state of Gujarat. Modi said he helped his father sell tea as the family struggled to make ends meet – which he said helped him understand the problems plaguing Indian society at the grassroots level.
Modi entered Indian politics at just 8 years old when he enrolled in classes at the local branch of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing organization that advocates for the supremacy of Hinduism in India. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a young man and worked his way up the ranks, becoming chief minister of the wealthy state of Gujarat.
He was first elected prime minister in 2014 with a roaring majority on a ticket of nationalism and development. While he is credited with implementing economic and social reforms, the BJP’s majoritarian policies have polarized the nation, dividing it across religious lines.
His reelection in 2019 signaled to many analysts that India was shifting away from its founding secular roots to a Hindu-first state, something that accelerated during Modi's second term.
This year’s election is a pivotal moment in the nation’s post-independence era, with the outcome capable of shaping the country’s trajectory with Modi at its helm.
What is Modi promising voters?
From CNN’s Helen Regan, Rhea Mogul and Kunal Sehgal
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign manifesto centers on job creation and anti-poverty and development programs, with a particular focus on women, the poor, young people and farmers.
Modi wants to turn India into a global manufacturing hub, continue its massive infrastructure transformation, and achieve energy independence by 2047.
Worth $3.7 trillion in 2023, India is the world’s fifth-largest economy, having jumped four spots in the rankings during his decade in office. Modi has pledged that India will have the world’s third-largest economy during a possible third term.
However, economic successes have been slow to trickle down to the country’s poorest and India’s gross domestic product (GDP) per person is ranked a lowly 147 in 2022, according to the World Bank.
“Everything has become so expensive; how can poor people survive in this climate? I think it’s time for a change,” Irafan Mohammad, a Muzaffarnagar rickshaw driver, who has four children and earns $6 a day, told CNN.
Modi wants India to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, will push to bid for the 2036 Summer Olympics and aims to land an astronaut on the moon, and has pledged to transform the country into a developed nation by 2047.
Analysis: Modi spotlights coalition alliance, sidestepping election upsets
From CNN's Rhea Mogul
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory speech chimed with the image that he has projected throughout his decade in power: confident and with no admission of any defeats.
Despite facing shock upsets in the election, Modi did not admit this as he spoke.
His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on track to fall short of an outright majority and is set to form a coalition government with his allied parties to remain in power.
Still, Modi triumphantly declared that he would govern India for the next five years, promising an era of development and prosperity.
"This is the third time we have received these blessings from the public," Modi said from his party's headquarters in New Delhi. "It is an emotional moment for me."
And he strategically spotlighted the coalition he now needs to form a government.
"Today is a glorious day. The NDA (National Democratic Alliance) is going to form the government for the third time," he said, referring to his coalition partners.
Preliminary figures from the Election Commission indicate the BJP is short of securing the 272 seats needed to win an outright majority in parliament, a stunning upset that leaves them reliant onlongstanding allies to form a government.
Modi is set to form a government with the help of the NDA – securing him a third consecutive term — a landmark that makes him one of the most successful politicians in post-independence India.
Full results are expected in the coming hours, but current trends show they are nonetheless something of a personal blow to Modi, who had triumphantly vowed to win a 400-seat supermajority in this year’s election.
Modi has declared victory in the 2024 election, but results are still coming in. Here's where things stand
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared victory in the country's mammoth general election, but the vote count is ongoing.
As of 9.30 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET), Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has secured at least 190 seats according to the Election Commission of India — well below the 400 seat supermajority it was hoping for.
Meanwhile, the National Congress Party has the second-largest majority, having so far won 73 seats.
Two seats had shocking results, with the BJP winning a seat in Kerala for the first time.BJP candidate Suresh Gopi won the seat of Thrissur with 412,338 votes. It had previously been run by the Left Democratic Front since 2016.
But the BJP also suffered a shock loss, conceding the seat of Faizabad where Modi inaugurated the controversial Ram Mandir temple in January.
Awadhesh Prasad from the opposition Samajwadi Party won there instead,in a massive shock for the ruling government whose building of the grand Hindu temple was a key campaign tool.
Who are the ruling party's likely coalition partners?
With early results indicating that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may not win an outright majority, it will be reliant on its coalition partners to form a government.
Those partners include dozens of right-wing parties from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a BJP-led group that has been in power since his first election in 2014.
Formed in 1998, the NDA was created as an antithesis to India's main opposition, the Indian National Congress. It includes several regional parties, including the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena, which governs the western state of Maharashtra, and the Janata Dal (United), which has a presence in the country's northeast.
Generally the parties skew right-wing, but not all are as openly Hindu nationalist, with a variety of policies and platforms. Some are very focused on local areas where they draw support.
The alliance's chairmen included former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and co-founder of the BJP L. K. Advani.
India's Modi declares victory in nationwide election
From CNN's Rhea Mogul and Esha Mitra
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared victory in the country's mammoth general election, as votes continue to get counted.
Modi made the remarks in a speech at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in New Delhi.
"Today is a glorious day... National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is going to form the government for the third time, we are grateful to the people," he said, referring to the initials of his alliance.
"This is a victory for the world's largest democracy. This is a win of the country's loyalty to the constitution, a win for India's 1.4 billion people."
Supporters threw rose petals at the Indian leader as he made his way to the stage. Chants of "Modi! Modi! Modi!" reverberated through the crowd as Modi spoke.
Early results suggest that Modi’s BJP may have to rely on coalition partners to form a government. Those partners include dozens of parties from theNDA, a BJP-led group that has been in power since his first election in 2014.
Although final results are still outstanding, Modi’s alliance is on track to gain 272 seats, according to the Election Commission's website, the minimum number required to form a government.
Full results are expected in the coming hours.
Shock defeat for BJP in town where Modi inaugurated controversial temple
From CNN's Rhea Mogul
We have a big upset for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a hugely symbolic part of India.
India’s ruling party has just conceded in the constituency of Faizabad, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the controversial Ram Mandir in January, unofficially kickstarting his campaign for this year's general election.
Awadhesh Prasad from the opposition Samajwadi Party won there instead,in a massive shock for the ruling government whose building of the grand Hindu temple was a key campaign tool.
The Ram Mandir was built on the site of the Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque that was desecrated by Hindu right-wing groups in 1992, setting off a wave of deadly religious violence not seen in decades.
Building the temple has long been a dream for the BJP, whose roots lie in the Hindu-nationalist political organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
In January, Modi consecrated the lavish temple, taking on the role of head priest and leader of the nation, in a move analysts said pulled India further away from its secular foundation, to that of a Hindu-first state.
Hours earlier, the controversy became a rallying cry for the BJP, with supporters at the Delhi headquarters calling for the demolition of more mosques.
Modi's failure to define a single election issue may have lost him support among voters, analyst says
From CNN's Antoinette Radford
Survey data taken ahead of the election showed that support for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not as strong as it had been ahead of previous elections, Milan Vaishnav from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank and host of the Grand Tamasha podcast told CNN.
Vaishnav noted that India's opposition leaders faced ongoing persecution by having their bank accounts frozen and leaders jailed, prompting spectators to think the opposition was fighting a "popular incumbentwith one hand tied behind theirback.”
But, he said, Modi did not define a single overarching issue or narrative for the election so voters focussed more on local matters.
“In theabsence of that, what we'vegot in a federal countrylike India is a series of stateby state, local contests inwhich more mundane, parochialissues really matter,” he said.
“Jobs,inflation, local leaders,incumbency, caste, ethnicity,religion and those seem to haveworked against the prime minister and his party,” Vaishnav added.
How will LGBTQ people be impacted by India's election?
From Esha Mitra in New Delhi
India’s LGBTQ population saw few of its concerns addressed ahead of the country’s general elections.
In 2018 the Supreme Court decriminalized hom*osexuality, scrapping a colonial-era law in a move the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) takes credit for.
But last year, the Supreme Court of India ruled against a petition to legalize same-sex marriage, and activists say LGBTQ people in India continue to face discrimination and abuse.
What the ruling party says: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), expected to secure another five years in power, has failed to adequately address this community on the campaign trail.
In its manifesto, it promised to expand India's network of shelters for transgender people and promised to give them national ID cards. But transgender activists say the BJP government claims to provide rights for transgender people, but it has made it hard for them to live as equals in India.
In parliament, 151 members have been vocal on LGBTQ issues, and fewer than 20 of these were from the BJP, according to PinkList, a national archive of politicians supporting LGBTQ rights.
What the opposition says: the Indian National Congress has said in its manifesto that it would legalize civil unions between LGBTQ couples if elected.
