From the Forecast: June 4 – India election results

The?outcome of India’s general elections?is expected on?Tuesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) anticipated to win a third term.

What’s happened so far? The staggered six-week election process?began on April 19?and the seventh and final phase is scheduled for Saturday.?More than 8,000 candidates?are contesting seats in the largest election in the world which has seen nearly 1 billion voters head to the polls, in some cases amid a heatwave.?

The impact? The BJP has?been accused?of stoking communal tensions through its Hindu-nationalist rhetoric. Although Modi and his party are expected to retain power, paving his way for more than a decade at the helm, it remains to be seen whether the results will show a landslide victory as predicted by the party. If Modi expands his control to gain supermajority in Parliament, there is the risk he could be changing India’s constitution to the detriment of its minorities. India’s?economic policy and trajectory, however, are unlikely to change focus, regardless of which party comes into power.