By Nick Baum
MONDAY – 5/20/19
After the votes of over 900 million citizens in the world’s biggest election, initial exit polls are showing a clear path to victory for current Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. Experts predicted a clear majority win for Modi despite a worsening job outlook and a decrease in farmers’ wages, and agriculture is a major industry in India.
Modi is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party, a right-wing party that is the largest in the country. His opposition came from Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Indian National Congress Party. That party isn’t necessarily liberal, but rather a centrist party that advocates for nationalism, or putting the country but economically and politically first.
While polls in India have had a history of being incorrect or errored, experts are confident in Modi’s big win. In order to win majority control in government, a party has to win 272 out of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament in India. In 2014 the party won 282 seats, but through alliances with other smaller parties the alliance increased to 336 seats.
Sources and Pictures: The Business Standard, Quora, CNN