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the ruling BJP has not a single Muslim MP among its cohort of 282;
Muslims are reckoned to comprise at least 14% of the Indian population.
But largely Mr Modi told the truth: the BJP’s manifesto and Mr Modi’s
speeches emphasised economic and development matters. The victory he
achieved is more the result of his talk of strong government and
improvements to the material lives of voters than anything else. That is
encouraging. It suggests that he will now seek to govern in a way that
encourages economic growth, job creation and better infrastructure, along
with further reductions in poverty and inflation. Mr Modi has been
dropping strong hints that he hopes to remain in power not only for the
current five-year term, but to win re-election and reshape India’s economy
and political landscape. In other words, he is considering his long-term
prospects by keeping in mind the rise of a powerful new constituency that
will only gather more influence as the years pass: the young, urban,
educated and impatient set of voters who aspire for material gains to their
lives. We argued before that such voters, for whom there is only “one
God, that is GDP”, will increasingly decide the outcome of Indian
elections. Mr Modi and the BJP look set to corner their support.
What comes next? On May 20th the BJP will meet, apparently to elect Mr
Modi formally as their leader. That, apparently, is a precursor to the
formation of a government which is going to include the immediate allies
of the party that make up the National Democratic Alliance. It could, too,
be made from a wider coalition, since the BJP—if it is to push through
legislative changes quickly—will need additional help from other parties
that control powerful states, and to win more support in the upper house of
parliament.
Unease persists about the role of the Hindu-nationalist right, whose
footsoldiers undoubtedly helped a great deal in getting BJP candidates
elected. With Mr Modi having been an activist member in the right-wing
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since he was a boy, some on the
right have expectations that he will pursue an agenda of Hindutva (for
example getting a temple erected in Ayodhya, or changing the
constitutional status of Muslim-majority Kashmir). Others look for
evidence that nationalism of a protectionist variety will have a strong

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