3

TheBharatiyaJanata
Victoryfor
Party: A Modi
Narendra
Walter K.Andersen

They
characterized as pivotal. of
national electionscan be minister of the state
he recent Narendra Modi, former chiel remain inpower unil
launched
stage, and hisgoal isto country. The
to the national and secure
Gujarat,
goals of a rapidly developing party in three decades
heachieves his
Party (BJP) is the first political has considerable
BharatiyaJanata own and, thus,
have a parliamentary majority on its springboard tor the party to
to victory provides a
room for maneuver. Its
both its electoral and social base.
toexpand
make an aggressive push Party was decimated and its European
The long-dominant Congress In its place, the BJP pledged to place
style social wellare agenda rejected.
emphasis on private enterprise and less on government.
greater moreover, is different socially from his
The new prime minister,
is not from the elite upper class that has dominated
predecessors as he
success in appea
Indian politicsat the national level till now. The BJP's
this election may
ing tothe lower levels of the Hindu caste hierarchy in
made Modi the
alter itspresently high-caste orientation.These elections
most inlluential figure in agroup of affiliated Hindu nationalist organiza
tions referred to as the Sangh Parivar. His task is to get these groups
adopt more inclusive policies that would attract the support of religious
 The Bharatiya
minorities,especially Muslims. He
JanataParty 47

during the campaign and

publicly studiously avoided Hindutva themes
campaign appeal was to the young rebuked those who did. His personal
and
for jobs. With over 50 percent of the poor generally and their demand
850 million voters
and 35 years old, this was Prime between 18
show that the Support of the youth Minister Modi's target group, and polls
gave him an electoral victory. His
major challenge will be to satisfy their
Iwould like to thank the demands.
many senior members of the BJP and the
Bashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) who agreed to meet with me over
the past several months to give me their
insights regarding the recent
political campaign and Mr Modi's rise in the party, and this includes
time that Mr Modihimselt gave to me to question him about these issues.
Itake full responsibility for any mistakes in fact or interpretation that
might appear in this analysis. lIn addition, Iwould like to thank the
following colleagues at Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International
Studies (SAIS), Some are my students in the South Asia Studies program,
for their generous help in compiling the data and reviewing my text:
Rebecca Aman, Allison Berland Kaul, Thomas Schuyler Sturm, Shrey
Verma, and Constantino Xavier.

Introduction
Alliance (NDA) partners havewon
The BÊP and its National Democratic 2014 Lok Sabha elec
unprecedented victory in the
what is for them an (from l8.8 percent in 2009 par
popular votes
tion,with amajor shift of 2014 for the BJP, and from
29.28
to 31 percent in
liamentary elections seats (from ll6 in 2009 to 282
the NDA) and
percent to39 percent for for the NDA),'Winning aconvincing
181 to 336 the
for the BJP and from on its own, the BJP has replaced
parliamentary seats
majority of the national party and has returned to
preeminent other than
Congress Party as the a political party,
after 10 years. It is the first time that majorityonits own.' More
power receivedaparliamentary demonstrated significant
Congress, has
the
the first time that the BJP has
Over, this is also
the country. and they will
Support in all parts of have worked in the BJP's favor BJP candi
to the
Four factorsseem discussion. First was the ability of
core of this BJP and generate among
torm the control of the
Narendra Modi, to take firm
date,
 support him, and
its core support base a commitment to by
his party, the BJP. Second was the
construction of a
zation involving thousands of volunteers
campaignextensig
working together in aorgani
n
supervised effort to reach the voters. Third was the anti- closely
-incumbency
factor fueled by the widespread perception of coruption, lack of devel
opment, and poor governance by the ruling Congress Party Founh was
focus
the BJP's very effective campaign strategy that combined a focus on eco
nomic development and jobs that were particularly relevant to Ibd
as Ihe
rapidly growing aspirant population and on Modi himself as the persorn
who could revive India economically. Modi and the BJP campaign were
virtually silent on divisive Hindu nationalist issues (e g.buildinga Ram
temple at Ayodhya and creating a unified civil code) that could hae
stalled the surge in support for Modi and the BJP and reminded vote
of his inability or unwillingness aschief minister of the state of Gujarat
to stop the communal riotingin 2002 that left over a thousand people
mainly Muslims, dead

BJP:Campaign Themes
The BJP Manifesto, in a delayed release on Aprnl 7, the first day of poll.
ing, reflected the issues Modi had raised duning his hundreds of speeches
all over the country It was ideologically centr1st, and many com
mentators, including some in the Congress Party, even compared it
the Congress Manifesto The document calls for improved policy
implementation and focuses on economic growth, job creation, reduc
ing corruption, and keeping prices under control. On economic growth,
itemphasizes adeveloping labor-intensive industry and removing bureau
cratic impediments that have slowed decisions on criticaleconomic proj
ects, especially large-scale infrastructure plans. It makes special mention
of intrastructure development, reflecting Modi's own focus as chief min
ister of Gujarat. There are a number of specific actionable proposals,
Such as raising education appropriations to 6 percent of GDP, connect
ing Jammu and Kashmir with a rail freight corridor, initiating a National
Health Assurance Scheme, creating a National Agncultural Market.
transtorming Employment Exchanges into Career Centers, establishing
r build1ng
institutes of technology and administration in all states, and
100smart
cities. However, the Manifesto does not support foreign direct
investment in retail trade as part of the larger effort to increase such
investmnent throughout the economy, aa clear effort to please the party's
constituency ot smallshopkeepers.
Reflecting the campaign itsell, there is comparatively little on foreign
nalicy. While no specilic countries are mentioned in the document,
Modi himself has referred to Japan on the campaign trail as a country
involvement." Among the more
with whom India should seek greater the Mani
significant specific foreign policy/security questions raised in policy
India's no-first-use
festo is the suggestion of a possible revision of
month after Modi's swearing in,
of nuclear weapons. However, just one
the previous government to
his government affirmed the commitment of
Additional Protocol that would enable the International Atomic
back the
greater access to India's civilian nuclear program,
Energy Agency to have seriousness in implementing
new government's
and, thus, signaled the for a mnore
Indo-US nuclear deal.8 The Manifesto also calls
the 2008 provocations from neigh
required in dealing with
muscular policy when border incidents over the past
year
reference to
boring countries, alikely
involving Pakistan and China.Manifesto refer, and then in a cursory fash
Only at the end does the construction of a Ram Temple at
Hindutva issues as the Manifesto goes
ion, to such the same time, this
civil code. At
Ayodhya and a uniform proposing programs designed
beyond any previous BJP statement in economic, cultural, and edu
lar pledging to improve the "permanent interfaith con
to help Muslims,
well-being of Muslims, including a promotion of Urdu."
cational "preservation and
sultative mechanism" and the
deep throughout the campaign
suspicion of Modi remained anxieties to avoid a polariza
Yet, Muslim seek to calm Muslim
andModi will have
to
his development objectives. such
stand in the way of campaign workers,
that would senior
tion
remarks by some of his Pradesh, worked against his
Intemperate Uttar been
Shah. head of the campaign in comments may also have
as Amit though these won7l of Utar
message of inclusiveness, Hindu support. The BJP seats for
attract additional unprecedented number of
calculated to seats, an the elections, Shah was
Pradesh's 80 parliamentarypopulous state. After strengthen Modi's
most bothto
the party in India's move
calculated
choice is potentially
the BJP, a Ssage. The
made president of broaden its message.
hold on the party and to
50 WALTER K. ANDERSEN

risky as the Prime Minister will need to ensure that future election tactics
economic goals
fit a model of national stability; an inclusiveness if his
are to be achieved. The complexity of Indian society, however, nudges
any party seeking power at the federal levelIto ideological moderation,
aprocess that characterized the previous BJP-led government unde:
Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1999-2004).10

Modi: Consolidating Controlover the BJP

Setting the groundwork for the BJP's electoral victory was the successful
move of Modi to assert control over his party, the BJP perhaps more
completely than the previous popular BJP prime minister, Atal Bihari
Vajpayee." Modi seems, moreover, to be in the process of transform
ing the BJP to make it much more inclusive both geographically and
socially--and much less collegial. Infighting among senior party leaders
in the wake of the party's loss of the 2004 and 2009 national elections
gave this regional leader, elected chief minister of Gujarat four times, a
major opportunity to grasp the party's levers of power from the estab
lished national leadership and subsequently to reshape his party--and
ultimately the 2013-14 political campaignaround himself The BJP
carmpaign was the closest any Indian major party has come to waging an
American-style politicalcampaign, and Modi's advisers recognized early
on the benefits of a more personalized campaign around his charismatic
persona and of pitting him against the much younger, and less popular,
Rahul Gandhi from the Congress Party.
Modi achieved a similar transformation earlier at the state level in
Gujarat after the deadly communal rioting in early 2002 that elicited
criticism of his governance both within the BJP and within the larger Indian
poliical system. He moved to reshape the state unit of the party, employing
what one astute analyst of Modi has said was adeliberate policy of replacng
the "old style, 20th century Gujarat-based Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangi
(RSS) chapter that brought him into public life,"l with a new strategy tnat
was development oriented. Modi promoted loyalists who had an activis
comnitrnent to development rather than to those advocating older, more
and
divisive Hindutva issues that took a jaundiced viewtoward Muslims
other rnínoriies.i4 His was a hands-on government in which he took
 Ihe Bharoliya Janota
Porty 51
direct conrol of several of he nost innpotant
gs chiel ninister. He seems to be mnsries 0yer bis ong
applying ths same hands on
techniquetothec new cabinet at the Center. The BJP's
announcement on September 13,.
2013 that Modi wouldParliamenry board
be their patys
prime ministerial candidate concusively
national
underscored hi eipe of the
party's oligarchs. But in retrospect, this rise had started uch
carier and he developed the reputation of a tough poltical infiyhter
againstthose who opposed him or his policies.
ln May 2012, for example, Modi maneuvered to remove his longtime
rivalfrom Gujarat, Sanjay Joshi, Irom the powerlul General Secretary pni
tion of the national BJP, thus, ellectively destroying Joshi's career in the
party. Modi's growing cloul in the party was again demonstrated when,
on March 31, 201l3, he was appointed to the BJP's Parliamentary Board
by Rajnath Singh," who had carlier dropped Modi from that body dur
ing Singh's first term as its President (2006-09), l6 Modi's consolidation of
power was virtually complete a few months later in September when the
Parliamentary Board named him the party's candidate for prime minister.
The old guard within the party, many with their own local bases of sup
careful to show
port, grumbled about being sidelined, though Modi was platforms
public
them public deference and to appear with them on
later to appoint most of them to his cabinet. Modi'schoices suggest
and
important to keep potential critics closeto him, as witnessed
he tinds it
his choice of Sushma Swaraj, one of his more outspoken critics as
by
external affairs minister.
dominance was conclusively demonstrated in the closely
Modi's
candidate selection process in the early spring of 2014 when
Supervised obliged, often against
party's most senior leaders were
Several of the
accept a shift from their traditional parliarnentary
er wishes, to the more prominent was lDr Murli
Costituencies or dropped. Among
from Varanasi to make way for Modi.
Manohar Joshi, who was shifted cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu (the sit
former
erexamples include the denied aticket from his constituency,
was
5 rtrom Amritsar), who 2004 and 2009, to make way for17
which he had successfully wonin both
sometime legal advisor.
and
ArunJaitley, a long-time Modi SupporterSingh was denied aticketin his
Jaswant
Former External Affairs Minister expelled years for
from the party for six
home state of Rajasthan and s
his open protest.
 WALTER K. ANDERSEN
52
dramatic example of discontent over aseat selection
thatThe most
of L. K. Advani, who was denied the Bhopal | seat in Madhya Pradesh
reportedly wanted,8and told to keep the Gandhinagar seat in
that heown state of Gujarat. Even party president and Modi loyalist
Modi's
moved to Lucknow within the state of Utar Pradesh
Rajnath Singh was perhaps as a reward for
though,
from his Ghaziabad constituency, statement suggesting that Mod
loyaltyhimtotoModi,
hiswanted he made a public
stay on as party president after the elections.19 Except
the former oligarchs accepted the verdicts and staved
for Jaswant Singh,
party's big tent, perhaps a result of their earlier socialization
within the
on loyalty to com
withinthe Hindu nationalist RSS with itsemphasis
rades and the organization."
long-time association
Modi als0seems to be transforming the party's
past has served as a kind
with the Hindu nationalist RSS, which in the
ideological mentor, and source of
of arbitrator of intra-party disputes,
been one) and volunteers
full-time party organizers (of whom Modi had
emerging from the ranks of
during electoralcampaigns. While himself had an uneasy
full-time RSS workers,21 Modi himself sometimes has
the chief minister
relationship with the RSS establishment both as
in part because he does not
in Gujarat and as a national party leader, because he pro
conform to itsmodel of collegial decision making and
from positions of
gressively removed those with a hard Hindutva style
the Gujarat BJP to make way for persons who were devel
importance in
and who were less
opment-oriented, who were personally loyal to him, the BJP
Hindutva-oriented era in
divisive on sectarian issues. An earlier almost
close with the decision,
party in Gujarat conclusively came to a
tickets toHarin Pathak
certainly vetted by Modi, to deny parliamentary
in the Gujarat unit of the
and Rajendrasinh Rana, two former colleagues Modito power in 2001
RSS who used a hard Hindutva style to help bring constituencies."
respective
and who had repeatedly won in their own
Despite this demotion, they did not leave the party.
pattern of keeping some als
The one significant deviation from this
political figures with a public Hindutva orientation is Amt
tance trom
home minister in the Gujaral
Shah, aclose confidant,who had served as tough,hard-knuckles
governmnent under Modi and has a reputation as a
with a very public Hindu nationalist record. Modi, relying ott
Strategist campaign
Shah's organizing skills, placed him in charge of the party's
in the; fatiya Janata Party 53
all-important state of Uttar
narhament. His aliegea Pradesh, which elects 80
Elcction
Commission on outspoken Hindutva
April |l to ban his comments members
led India's
rallies,2 a ban that was lifted
apology and assured the
alew days participation
later when Shahin politicalan
Mod1 also sought to
place Commidistance
some ssion
that it would not offered
happen again.
matory anti-Muslim
rernarks of some between himselí and the inflam-
ing their statementS in tweets
released prominent
on April
supporters by criticiz-
aated. "I disapprOve any such 21.2014. of which one
hose making them to kindly irresponsible statement and appeal to
refrain from doing so. "24 This was
certainly a reaction to the public furor that developed over almost
comments attributed to Bihar BJP leader, Giriraj anti-Muslim
Singh,
Togadia. a leader in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and a by Pravin and
PSS. in the last month of the member of the
campaign
Despite Modi's distancing himself from advocates of hard
in Gujarat and his studious Hindutva
avoidance of Hindutva issues in the national
campaign, he was able to arouse something bordering on adulation from
the RSS's ordinary members, those who faithfully attend the daily train
ing sessions and participate in other RSS activities. The enthusiastic sup
Dort for Modi from the RSS cadre forced an initially reluctant national RSS
leadership to accept Modias leader of the BJP, to commit RSS personnel to
his campaign, and eventually to perform its traditional mediatory role for
the sake of party unity in an effort to calm down those party leaders who
saw Modi's rise as a threat to their ambitions. Especially instrumental in
Supporting Modi within the senior ranks of the RSS was Suresh Soni, the
Joint General Secretary of the RSS, who was to become the major contact
RSS
between the RSS and the Modi campaign. So enthusiastic was the
leader, consid
cadre backing for Modi that Mohan Bhagwat, its national
remember their primary loyal
ered it necessary to publicly advise them to
individual.
tles were to the RSS and not to an

Modi: His Tactics

adeptstrategist who waged a highiy effec
Modiproved himself to be an
that managed to tocus the discus-
tive parliarnentary political campaign leadership rather than on
personal
and on Modi's
SiOn on development
 54 WALTER K. ANDERSEN

more problematic considerations like identity and ocial welfare This

wasa shrewd reading of the public mood on both issues On the is6ue c
development,one pre-election survey conducted by the Lok Foundatitn
and the University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Advanced Study of
India, administered between October and December 2013 found that
about 25 percent of the respondents identified economic growth as the
number one issue, closely followed by corruption (21 perent) and infla
tion (18 percent)23
Modi was also helped by the widespread concerm, especially arnong
the large cohort of young voters, about their job prospects. ALording
to the Indian Election Commission, around 50 percent of the popula
tion is between the ages of 18 and 25 and about l0 percent of sorme
814 million electorate voted for the first time in the recent election
In a February Pew poll, some 69 percent of the youth (18-29 years)
said the BJP would do more tocreate jobs compared to just 17 percernt
who said so for the Congress In a campaignalmost presidential in
style, Modi focused on the comparison between his significant eco
nomic achievements as three-term chief minister of Gujarat and Rahul
Gandhi, the vice president of the Congress Party, who had never held
any public administrative position.
In adírect appeal to the aspirations of the tens of millions of poor
young Indians, he drew a sharp distinction between his humble origins
and experience as a tea seller, and those of Rahul Gandhi, heir to the
most prominent political dynasty in Indía. According to a Pew poll
from February, 78 percent had a favorable view of Modi while only
about 50 percent had a favorable impression of Gandhi. In both cases,
the popularity of the candidate outstripped support for their respective
parties: 63 percent for the BJP and only 19 percent for the Congress.
To supporters of Narendra Modi, the rapid economic
development ol
Gujarat during his long tenure as chief minister provídes sorme of the
best evidence that his leadership will help India regain its
rmomentum. Two prominent Indian-American Columbia econormists, economic
Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya,"" have been strong
Modi's Gujarat' model, often responding publicly to defenders ot
record. They argue that the rapid economíc growth incriticisn of Modis
Gujarat has ied to
substantial reductions in poverty, malnutrition, and illiteracy. They are
 The BharatiyaJanatu Porty 55
of dataatking Gujarat among the Indian states with
t Cnts, hOwerer, malnutriton
and poverty
have called the state's tecord nto questton, claimn%
that outs gnowth ajetOry was set long betore Moditook otticc,that
has ot had astgnicant role,"or that the state's econome
has not ineluded the poor. the disadvantaged, and mnonties
FonstaMONgttese erntics have been let-leamng cconoustssAmartya
Jean Druze who have cined that Gujarat's gowth statistics
2sk åsevee shortage ot sOcial intrastructureOthers mantan that
the Liulart nodel depends on busness subsdics and concessions of
the
public gois to companies ivesting in the state. Although both Mnister
inchusivenes ot oujarat's eOnOmIC success and then Chief
growth has
Modi's role in that suCCS are subject to debte, Gujarat's
accelerated growth
been higher than most other states and that period ot
What is relevant here is that
hascoincided with Modistenure in oftice
large part ot the voing public accepted Modis claims and saw them as
a couldbring tolndia.
proof of the positive benetits his leadership November-December 2013State
The signiticant BJP victories in the
elections in Rajasthan, Mad1ya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh
Assembly cadre evennore con
exception of Delhi) made the
(with the prominent 2014 national election would bring
vinced that an all-out eflort for the
Modi guded the etBorts to work out pre
Victory." At the same time, coalition government if it did
the BJP to fornma
polling alliances to enable votes. He could rely on remnants
majority of 272
not get the required Sena in Maharashtra and the Akali Dal in
Shiv
of the old NDA, like the parties that enabled Atal Bihari Vajpavee to
Punjab, two of the l5 allied
government in 1999, worked out allances
torm his coalition loomed, the BJP
prospective victory his
As the party's with Dalitleader Ranm VilasPaswan and
as that what had been the
with former allies,such the Telegu Desam in
Bihar, and showed
LokJanshakti Party in As the clection drew closer and all polls large
Pradesh. joined,though not theNadu.
State of Andhra more parties
victory, several Tamil
a significant BJP Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, and
Tegional parties in parliamentary majority on itsown,
the BÊP received anunespected coalition partners and several
While allies as if they were
Modidealt with these parties were given cabinet posts.
members of these allied
 WALIEK. ANDERSEN
56 Electoral Results
Meaningofthe
The 201+ Indian parliamentary
victor inthe Narendra Modi,elections
The BIPs
landslide
Indian poltics. Led by the BJP
shit in history that has won
marks attonN political partyin India's
non-Congress irst ime since 1984 that asingle
isthe hrst and the
simple majoritv on its own Sabha, the lower and more powerful
a majontv in the lok
patv has had a decisive mandate in favor of Narendra Modi
The
house of arlament traditionalI political assumptions of ocaste and
challenged
andthe BJP has articulating an cconomic agenda and turning
relgon Modi's success al that transcends barriers of caste and
ralling point
nto an electoral polhtics.
religon is a precedent n lndian the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
The BJP's impressve victones in
and itsall1es won 104 seats out of 120in the two states) point
the BIP Hindi.
India's populous
toward a sal churm1ng that is taking place insizeable shift towardthe
speaking heartland Election results indicate a
Other Backward Classes
BJP from voters from two key categories: the
OBC) and the Dal1ts This shift could be altering the support base of the
BJP from a largely h1gh-caste party toone drawing signiticant lower-caste
support Estimates suggest, at the national level, 45 percent of lower
OBCs and 33 percent of upper OBCsvoted for the BJP, while more than
26 percent of Dal1t votes were polled in favor of the party-more than
the Bahujan Samaj Party, which got less than 20 percent votes among the
Dal1ts at the national level " Narendra Modi and the BJP have success
fuly tapped into the aspirations of a young population that is seeking
jobs and new opportunities for upward mobility.
Apromise of development,combined with a broad social coalition of
upper castes,sections of OBCs, and Dalits, has played an
in ushering a BJP victory in the 2014 general important role
OBC community himself, Narendra Modi haselections. Belonging to the
leveraged his economic
achievements in Gujarat to successfully outmaneuver traditional caste
politics of the Mandal era. Building on this
and the RSS will almost electoral success, the bjr
certainly look tomake inroads into
encies that have constituted the main constitu
based parties. The 2014 electorai base of regional caste
to make an mandate, thus, provides the BJP aspringboard
terms of
aggressive ior an expansion of its
push base, both in
electoral
geography and social base.
 The Bharatiya
Janata Party 57
The Challenge of
Governance
Six major challenges Modi taces as
Prime Minister:
1 Can he
continue to use his personalized style of
ern acountry lar more complex than
his
leadership to gov
) Can he reshape the B)JP home state of Gujarat?
into a loyal instrument of power with the
tacit approval and continued support of the RSS?
3. Can he significantly move the
Indian economy forward to sat
isfy the longing for development, jobs, and alleviation of
and, thus,satisfy the high expectations from him? poverty,
4. Can he build Muslim confidence in his leadership and
work to pre
vent conmmunal violence? A number of prominent Muslim public
figures, such as the journalis/author M.J. Akbar, have joined the
BJP and bring to the new administration an expertise in allaying
Muslim suspicions and encouraging the party to nominate more
Muslimsto positions of authority. This conciliatory approach may
be one of the new prime minister's most difficult challenges. He
will need torein in the anti-Muslim Right among the group otf asso
ciations loosely affiliated to each other and the RSS, often referred
to as the Sangh Parivar (the Sangh family). Perhaps the most out
of
spoken figures are from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a member
Hindu ecclesi
the RSS family of organizations that works with the
a number
astical world. One of its leaders, Pravin Togadia, issued
campaign that embarrassed
of inflammatory statements during the such
Modi and prompted a public rebuke from him regarding
to use his influence with
statements. The Prime Minister will need
message of Hindu nationalism to
the Sangh Parivar to broaden the
more acceptable to non-Hindus,
make it more inclusive and, thus,
Christian parties of Europe after World War
perhaps emulating the based
which did this by emphasizing an inclusive social message
II, this by emphasizing the RSS
principles. " He could do
on Christian work on behalf of the nation)
which
message of Karmayoga (social
campaign.
he employed during the but
Indian foreign policy so that itLook
government shape
5 Can Modi's economic growth at home? His
tresses his goal of faster elicited both favorable comment
has already
East' orientation
 WALTER K. ANDERSEN
58 cooperation fromJapan and China, two
economtc during his
and pledgesof visited on several oCcasions Lenure
countriesthat he Gujarat, His successful invitation to the Seven
minister of ministers/presidents, including Prime
as chief prime
regional SAARC
Sharif of Pakistan,
to his May 26, 2014, swearing-
Minister Nawaz on
stated the campaign
underscored his goal,often
in ceremony together jointly to work
the South Asian states
trail, of bringing region economically. This, commitment
developthe
on projectsto by his choice of
Bhutan as his first overseas visit
underscored
was foreign policy wasfurther underscoredIby the
on
His engagementleaders his election. In quick
world made to him after
contacts Japan, and the United States
succession, the leaders of China,
he accepted all three. Chinese Foreign
invited him to visit, and
visited India on June 8 and 9, just weeks after
Minister Wang Yi bilateral relations and to
Modi's swearing-in ceremony,to discuss
the fall.0
invite him tovisit China in
massive victory has tempered tears about increasing
6. The BJP's power, blocking the
veto
party fragmentation and regional parties'and foreign policy agenda,
central government's economic reforms India's regional states
but Prime Minister Modi will have to bring
Under the previous
on board to execute his ambitious program.
the retail
government, key policy inítiatives, such as opening
agreement with
sector to foreign investment, a water-sharing
all
Bangladesh, and normalizing relations with postwar Sri Lanka,
coalition
faltered due to regional leaders' opposition and internal
served as chief
pressure. Only four previous prime ministers had
ministers, and Narendra Modi is the only one tohave completed
more than one term at the helm of a regional government (Gujarat:
2001-14), thus, giving him ampleexperience and insight on how
and
central
to calibrate a productive balance of power between
regional pressure groups.

Conclusion
far
Overall, Narendra Modi's solid parliamentary majority gives him
predecessors.
greater room for maneuver than that possessed by his as
His early style of leadership as prime minister suggests that it will be
 The Bharatiya
Londs-on as was his leadership in Janata Party 59
one of Modi's first
acts as prime Gujarat. In a move in this direction,
inter-mninisterial
groups ot ministersminister was to eliminate most of the
used to defer decisions and
avoid committees, which were typically
addressing divisive issues. These com-
mittees had the effect of
If Prime Minister blurring policy choices.
Modi can achieve this
chances ot a lengthy tenure are good and heagendawill
reasonably well, his
fom the BJP into a loyal have the time to trans
instrument of
has repeatedly said he needs twotermspower and an agent of change. He
(10 years) to do this.

Notes and References

19054
1 Election Commission of India, General Elections 2014. Data on May 17, 2014, http://
eci.nic.in/eci_main l/ElectionStatistics.aspx (accessed on June 3, 2014)
2. Comparing seats won by the BJP since the party emerged with its present name in the
1984 elections, the successive parliamentary seat counts were 2, 85, 120, l61, 182.
138, 1l6, and 282 in the most recent election.
3. The BJP has long had astrong base of support in the Hindi-speaking center and north
of India, but with marginal to no support in the south and east.
trends
4. The term 'aspirant' is taken from a Mckinsey study analyzing the future growth adop
economy after the
in India in the context of the more rapid growth of the Indianlower-middle-class group
this
tion of market reforms in the 1990s. It concludes that McKinsey
the fastest growing
is Company. segment of the population. S. Sankhe, April 2012,
& httpJ/www.mckinsey.cominsights/urbanizationurban_awakening_in_
india (accessed on June 3, 2014). Modi,"
is "Time for Change, Time for senior
manifesto, whose English title
5. The campaign headquarters in Delhi. While technically chaired
by
was released from the party toparty interlocutors
leader Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Narendra Modi accordingserve as a blueprint for
party wanted a documnent that could
he
was personally involved as Minister. The consultative mechanism put together to
Prime Swayamse
action if he emerged as party's ideological parent, the Rashtriya institutions
that of the
offer ideas resembled society and
suggestions trom all segments of leadership. Bharatiya
requests for
vak Sangh, with information up through the ranks to the senior (accessed on June l3,
and passing that bjp.org/manifesto2014
"Manifesto 2014", n.d.www.
Jarnata Party, Agendas," Business
2014). the BJP and Congress
hup//www.business-standard.com/article/elections-2014/
Between
Sharma, "The Very RealDifferences
the-very-real-differences-bet
M. ween-the-bjp-and-congress-agendas-l14040700680_1.
6. 2014,
April 7,
Standard,
Between Congress, BJP Manifestos,"
http:/www.ndtv.com/elections/articlelelection-2014/10-differ
Differences
(accessed on April14, 2014). "10 First
htmi (accessed on June 13, 2014);
NDTV,April 8, 2014,
ences-between-congress-bËp-manifestos-505486
Congress's Manifesto,"
April 7,
and
2014, http//www.firstpost.com/politics/heres-a-word-cloud-comparison-of-bjps-and
of BJP's
a Word Cloud Comparison
Post, "Here's 2014).
(accessed on June 13,
Congresss-manifesto-1468801.html