Letters | Huge Modi victory in India is a thumping yes to his policies

The re-election in India of Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party was a huge victory that came much against the expectations of the many naysayers who expected either a coalition government or a victory with a lower majority, or even an outright loss.

Modi was chided by his opponents and the media for wrecking the economy, creating huge job losses, undermining established institutions, playing the nationalistic Hindu religious card, being insensitive to dissent and marginalising the minorities. Some even called him a “divider-in-chief”.

And yet, despite the negativity, he won with a thumping majority, silencing his critics in one stroke. His victory represented an endorsement of his economic development and social welfare policies which have benefited the masses. His down-to-earth policies that addressed the core needs of the poor turned the tables on those who offered the moon.

In the next five years, India is expected to improve its economic growth trajectory, with Modi’s government having laid the basic foundations of reform in its previous term. India is quite likely to fill the breach being vacated by China, due to the latter’s faltering economy and the trade/tech war with the US.