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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked voters for giving him a “historic mandate” after his Hindu nationalist party was expected to clinch a landslide election victory.
Votes are still being counted, but the main opposition alliance, headed up by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party, has conceded defeat.
Election Commission data on Thursday afternoon showed Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party leading in contests for 299 out of 542 seats in the lower house of Parliament, with its main rival, the Indian National Congress, ahead in 50 contests.
The final tally was expected by Friday morning.
Outside BJP headquarters in New Delhi, hundreds of people cheered and shouted party slogans, lifting cardboard cut-outs of Mr Modi and party president Amit Shah as other people played drums.
In a victory address to supporters, Mr Modi said: “We all want a new India. I want to bow down my head and say thank you.
Mr Modi also urged the world to “recognise India’s democratic power.”
He attributed the party’s showing to his pro-poor policies, including free medical insurance and relief for distressed farmers.
He also tweeted: “India wins yet again.”
President Donald Trump also congratulated the prime minister on Twitter saying: “Congratulations to Prime Minister @narendramodi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory.
“Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together!”
The election has been seen as a referendum on Mr Modi, whose economic reforms have had mixed results but whose popularity as a social underdog in India’s highly stratified society has endured.
Critics have said his Hindu-first platform risks exacerbating social tensions in the country of 1.3 billion people.
On the campaign trail, he presented himself as a self-made man with the confidence to cut red tape and unleash India’s economic potential, and labelled Mr Gandhi, the scion of a political dynasty that lost power in 2014, as an out-of-touch elite.
Mr Gandhi conceded defeat for his own parliamentary seat to his BJP rival in Amethi, a constituency in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh that had for decades been a Congress party bastion.
But Indian election rules allow candidates to run in more than one constituency, and Gandhi was ahead in the race for another seat he contested in the southern state of Kerala.
Asked if he would quit the party’s top post to take responsibility for its dubbing, Gandhi replied: “That’s something between me and my party’s policy-making body which is going to meet soon.”
Congress, the party of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and peace activist Mahatma Gandhi, ruled India for nearly half a century after it achieved independence from Britain in 1947.
In 2014, it won only 44 seats, and was projected to win only slightly more this time.
Political commentator Arti Jerath said the BJP’s performance was “absolutely stunning”.
He said: Modi is the predominant leader in India today. He has pushed everybody else aside. Nobody in the opposition is a match for him.”
A party or coalition needs a simple majority of 272 seats, or just over half the seats in Parliament’s lower house, to govern.
“Mr. Modi’s going to be the next prime minister, we are very assured of that,” said Meenakshi Lekhi, a member of Parliament running for re-election in New Delhi.
Shortly after officials began tabulating the votes, India’s Sensex jumped 2.3 per cent to an all-time high over 40,000, though it closed Thursday off 0.76 per cent at 38,811.
If BJP’s lead holds, it won’t need a coalition partner to stay in power and could even improve its position compared to 2014, when it won 282 seats.
This election may mark the first time in the party’s history that it has won two consecutive elections on its own.
World leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, also congratulated Modi on Twitter.
“I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia,” Khan tweeted.
Agencies contributed to this report.
