With nearly all constituencies reporting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party have won a majority in India's general election, AP reported.
Officials figures by the Election Commission of India reveal that the Bharatiya Janata Party won 287 out of the 525 constituencies in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, as of early Friday. The party's top rival, the Indian National Congress led by Rahul Gandhi, won 50 seats, and the All India Trinamool Congress led by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee won 19 seats. The final results are not in for the remaining 42 seats.
Vote counting of the estimated 600 million ballots cast in the world's largest democratic exercise began early Thursday.
Hours earlier, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated his Indian counterpart for the remarkable win in the Indian massive general election. The last gesture came as both countries were close to a major conflict in February when Indian aircraft launched a strike in Pakistan in response to a Feb. 14 suicide bombing in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir that killed 40 troops. India blamed the bombing on Pakistan-based militants, a new episode of the mutual bitter relations.
Modi, 69, led the BJP in the 2014 general election, which gave the party a majority in the Indian lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, the first time for any single party to win majority since 1984.
His administration worked to raise foreign direct investment in the Indian economy, and reduced spending on healthcare and social welfare programs. He tried to improve efficiency in the bureaucracy, began a high-profile sanitation campaign, and abolished environmental and labour laws. The PM initiated a controversial demonetisation of high-denomination banknotes.
Modi remains a figure of controversy domestically and internationally over his Hindu nationalist beliefs and his role during the 2002 Gujarat riots, cited as evidence of an exclusionary social agenda.
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