Meditating Modi rests easy as exit polls give him election win
NARENDRA MODI, India’s prime minister, looked set to retain power at the head of a coalition government last night, after exit polls showed his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies were on track to win a majority of seats in India’s parliament.
With polls showing the Bjp-led National Democratic Alliance will win as many as 306 seats in India’s 543-seat lower house, the controversial Hindunationalist leader would secure a second five-year term, though with a slimmer mandate than in 2014.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance coalition, the opposition, which sank to historic lows last time out, was predicted to win about 132 seats, but a Congress spokesman dismissed the exit polls as “laughable”, citing the shyness of voters in such a polarised contest. The exit polls, which have proved wildly unreliable in the past, were released yesterday evening after the last of India’s 900million registered voters had cast their ballots. The final result is due on Thursday.
The largely peaceful six-week campaign ended with violent clashes on the outskirts of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, when the BJP became involved in skirmishes with the regional Trinamool Congress party.
The projected result emerged as Mr Modi attracted anger and bemusement yesterday after wearing saffron robes to meditate in a Himalayan cave, with his aides saying they hoped the photos, posted on Twitter, would strike a chord with his austere religious supporters.
Mr Modi was seen wearing the orange garments synonymous with Hindu priests and sitting cross-legged in a cave near the Kedarnath shrine, in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
The pictures were mocked online as the “cave” is actually a man-made retreat. “No meditation is complete or meaningful without the right attire, red carpet and, of course, a stage-managed photo opportunity,” wrote Rupa Subramanya, an economist and a former BJP supporter turned critic.