Gujarat's chief minister Narendra Modi speaks during the "Vibrant Gujarat Summit" at Gandhinagar in the western Indian state of Gujarat January 12, 2013. Fresh off his re-election as chief minister of Gujarat and amid expectations he could contend to be the next prime minister, Modi avoided talk of a bigger political future during a state investment event.
Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies have won India's general election by the biggest margin in 30 years.
Modi will be sworn in as the new prime minister of India on May 21.
Indian stocks surged to a record in India, with the BSE having risen as much as 6.15%, and the rupee also strengthened against the U.S. dollar. Modi has largely positioned himself as a champion of economic progress as India's economic growth has languished to 10-year lows. And one can't argue with the fact that Modi is a much more charismatic leader than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
While there's much optimism around what a Modi win could mean for the Indian economy, there's a lot to worry about as well.
Modi is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a Hindu nationalist party and has done a good job avoiding questions about his role in the deadly Gujarat Hindu-Muslim riots of 2002 that left over 1,000 dead. Modi was chief minister of the state at the time. The riots began after a train with Hindu pilgrims was set on fire in Godhra, killing 59 people. Hindu mobs then turned on Muslims in Gujarat.
In the aftermath, Modi has addressed the issue saying: "I feel sad about what happened but no guilt. And no court has come even close to establishing it."
Modi only fanned the flames with his New York Times interview in 2002, in which he said his only regret was that he didn't manage the media better. Following this, the U.S. imposed a visa ban on Modi and Britain announced a 10-year boycott.
The Supreme Court of India however has given him a "clean chit" — exonerating him of wrongdoing.
Modi has also called for a crackdown on illegal immigrants in India. He has accused West Bengal of being soft on illegal immigration and accused it of sheltering them in order to secure votes from minorities. Sujoy Dihar at LiveMint points out that Modi has said illegal immigrants should have their "bags packed" in case he comes to power. Modi's rhetoric, and it has been argued that of the BJP, has shown an anti-Muslim bias.
In a note published earlier this year, Nomura's Alastair Newton points out that during a Feb. 23 rally in Assam, Modi called for Hindu migrants from Bangladesh to be assimilated back into India. He said non-Hindus should be sent back to their home nations. Modi's rhetoric has raised concerns about what this could mean for neighborhood politics.
Indian publication Live Mint pointed to Modi's decision to contest the seat in the holy city of Varanasi as a sign that he hasn't abandoned his Hindu supremacist ideology:
"It is widely expected that Modi’s nomination from Varanasi will positively affect the outcome for the BJP in a number of other seats in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which are electorally important as together the two states send 120 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha. Further, the choice of Varanasi is also symbolic in nature which indicates that the party may not have completely abandoned the Hindutva ideology."
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