Advertisement

Modi's India

47:47
Download Audio
Resume

Historic elections in India. We’ll  go deep on the results and what they’ll mean for India, the  world and the US.

Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and India's next prime minister Narendra Modi addresses a gathering of supporters after his landslide victory in Vadodara, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, Friday, May 16, 2014. Modi will be India's next prime minister, winning the most decisive victory the country has seen in more than a quarter century and sweeping the long-dominant Congress party from power, partial results showed Friday. (AP)
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and India's next prime minister Narendra Modi addresses a gathering of supporters after his landslide victory in Vadodara, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, Friday, May 16, 2014. Modi will be India's next prime minister, winning the most decisive victory the country has seen in more than a quarter century and sweeping the long-dominant Congress party from power, partial results showed Friday. (AP)

A huge landslide election win in India last week for the opposition party of Narendra Modi, India’s Hindu nationalist party.  It’s opposition no more.  In an historic vote, India turned out the Congress Party that has ruled for nearly all its decades of independence.  And it voted in a charismatic, super pro-business political leader who has vowed to rev up the economy, build a hundred new cities, cover India in high-speed rail, put it nose to nose with the economic dynamism of China.  India’s non-Hindus may well worry.  But it’s “game on” for Narendra Modi.  This hour On Point:  Modi’s India.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Annie Gowen, India corespondent for the Washington Post. (@anniegowen)

Jayant Sinha, newly elected BJP member of India's Lok Sabha in Jharkhand. Former businessman and Harvard University MBA recipient. (@jayantsinha)

Prashant Agrawal, investment consultant for Alixpartners and contributing editor for GQ India. (@agrawalprashant)

Zahir Janmohamed, freelance journalist. Former U.S. Congressional aide to Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN). (@ZahirJ)

Sonia Faleiro, writer and journalist. Author of "Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars." (@soniafaleiro)

From Tom's Reading List

Washington Post: 'We will take everybody along,’ Narendra Modi declares in victory speech in India -- "After a grueling campaign, economic reformer and Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi is set to become India’s next prime minister, with his opposition party sweeping to a landmark victory. Modi, 63, chief minister of the western state of Gujarat, had campaigned on a message of hope and revitalization at a time when the country was dispirited by a stalled economy and a sense that its once-bright promise had dimmed."

Quartz: There’s a simple reason Narendra Modi will be India’s next prime minister -- "Some may argue about Gujarat’s growth record under Modi, but the voters of Gujarat have resoundingly elected Modi three times. India has undergone a quiet revolution in her states over the last decade. Chief ministers, essentially governors of states, that perform well are re-elected. Chief ministers who perform poorly are thrown out.Not surprisingly, Modi has now become one of the longest serving chief ministers in the country."

New York Times: Modi Is No Champion Of India's Women — "Winning Gujarat is a steppingstone to national victory, and the Nari Adalats could be a conduit to hundreds of thousands of rural women’s votes. Some local activists fear that Mr. Modi will attempt to install his cronies in the courts. [As] he becomes prime minister and nationalizes the system, one could envision this vehicle for justice becoming a political tool that conditions judicial relief on political support."

This program aired on May 19, 2014.

Advertisement

More from On Point

Listen Live
Close