Vadodra: Narendra Modi, who will be India's next prime minister, today informed Vadodara in Gujarat that his margin of victory there, 5.7 lakh votes, is a record. (
Narendra Modi Wins India. BJP and Allies to Cross 300 Seats.)
"Good days are..." Mr Modi began, "...will be here soon," roared Vadodara at his prompting. "The media wanted me to speak since morning. But I wanted to speak to Vadodara first, Vadodara has first right on me," he said, addressing a victory rally in one of the two constituencies he has won today.
The crowds constantly chanted "Modi, Modi."
He also thanked his state Gujarat, of which he has been chief minister for over a decade, for voting for the BJP in all 26 seats. The 63-year-old former RSS pracharak pointed out that the state is giving the country its "first prime minister born in Independent India" (
5 Factors that Helped BJP and Narendra Modi Win the Election)
Mr Modi has led his party to a huge victory in the elections. The BJP is set to win 281 seats in the Lok Sabha; with its allies it will have 339 seats. This means that it could have formed the government even without its pre-poll allies and with them, needs no more support to help form a very stable government.
This is the strongest showing by a political party since 1984. Thirty years ago, the Congress had swept the general elections in a sympathy wave after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The BJP, then a four-year-old party, had won two Lok Sabha seats.
At the BJP's Delhi headquarters, party chief Rajnath Singh said today, "It is a people's mandate for a change. The time has come to rewrite India's success story." He credited the "hard work and dynamic leadership" of Narendra Modi for the win.
The BJP's performance today is powered by a huge win in Uttar Pradesh, where it is set to win 72 of the state's 80 seats. One of them is Varanasi, the other seat Mr Modi contested from.