The world's largest democratic pageant — elections in India — has ended with a landslide victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As a result, Narendra Modi, the Gujarat State chief minister, should be able to form a government without forging a coalition with smaller parties, a tendency that has hobbled predecessor governments. While the prospect of a strong Indian government led by Modi appeals to those who decry the horse-trading that has sapped the energy of other Delhi governments — and slowed the country's once-impressive growth — others worry that Modi could also prove to be a Hindu nationalist who will ratchet up tensions in South Asia.
The BJP was expected to win the Indian ballot — a five-week process in which more than 500 million people voted in nine rounds at over 1 million polling stations — on the back of rising frustrations over the Indian National Congress party's inability to tackle corruption and its ineffectual economic policies. Congress has dominated Indian politics since the country claimed independence in 1947, and has been in power since 2004 as head of a coalition government.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was expected to champion the reforms he introduced as finance minister in 1991, but coalition politics plagued his administration, which was battered by one scandal after another.