But despite the massive mandate, the verdict on Modi’s performance has been mixed.
There have been some gains – more roads, rural works, cheap cooking gas for the poor, village toilets, a uniform sales tax, a promising health insurance scheme which could end up benefiting 500 million families, and a new bankruptcy and insolvency law.
But the economy is underperforming. India’s farms, where most of its people work, are beset by a crisis of low crop prices. Unemployment is rising, and a controversial currency ban ended up hurting the poor.
Socially, the BJP’s strident Hindu nationalism has left the country polarised and minorities nervous. India is in the grip of a fake-news epidemic, partly due to cheap phones and data. Some dissenters have been labelled as “anti-nationals” and thrown into prison.
Modi now faces another crucial general election….
India’s election campaign has been brutal and bruising. And it will prove whether the power of Modi can endure https://t.co/AtkLl2tBNY
— BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice) April 11, 2019