Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing, Hindu-nationalist alliance was expected to secure a supermajority – and with it the power to enact radical change unopposed. To Modi’s critics and opponents, India was on the fast track to becoming a de-facto one-party state. Going into this election, Modi had set a goal of winning 400 seats in the lower house of parliament, or Lok Sabha. The BJP’s inability to secure an outright majority “pricks the bubble of Modi’s authority,” wrote political scientist Pratap Bhanu Mehta Tuesday night. “But who many voters feel have crossed lines for what should otherwise be a very vibrant democracy.”

Source: Egypt Independent June 05, 2024 13:39 UTC