Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi called for unity in India as exit polls signaled his opposition bloc would win a majority in national elections, boosting his chances of taking power after pledging to revive Asia's third-largest economy.
Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies will win 249 to 340 seats, according to six exit polls released Monday, with 272 needed for a majority. The Congress party and its allies, in power for the past decade, are projected to win 70 to 148 seats. Results will be announced on Friday.
"Let's place people over politics, hope over despair, healing over hurting, inclusion over exclusion and development over divisiveness," Modi, 63, said in a statement sent by the BJP last night. "It is natural for the spirit of bipartisanship to get temporarily lost in the midst of an election campaign, but now is the time to regain it."