Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be re-elected as head of state for a third consecutive term, at the end of six weeks of general elections on Saturday in which his Hindu nationalist party was the big winner.

The results of the vote, which was the largest in history with 968 million voters, were expected to be announced on Tuesday but exit polls on Saturday signaled another major victory for the 73-year-old leader.

According to a CNN-News18 survey, his BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and its allies are expected to win at least 355 seats in the lower house of Parliament, far exceeding the stipulated majority of 272 seats. not always reliable.

Modi, the big favorite in this election, has given his party two landslide wins in 2014 and 2019, thanks in large part to his appeal to Hindu voters, and he himself has said he is very optimistic about the election results.

“I can say with confidence that the people of India voted in large numbers to re-elect the government,” he said Saturday on X.

Voters, he added, “look at our track record and how our work has changed the lives of the poor, the marginalized and the disenfranchised.”

In the midst of the election process, the opposition accused him of stigmatizing Muslims and fueling inter-religious tensions, but apparently failed to reverse the balance of power.

Voting, which began six weeks ago, ended on Saturday with the closure of polling stations in the holy city of Varanasi, a stronghold of Hinduism and Modi.

Also called Benares, the city in the north of the country, where Hindus come to cremate their dead on the banks of the Ganges River, was one of the last cities where Indians voted, following a lengthy election process conducted in harsh weather. hot.

– “Feeling of pride” –

Temperatures have reached 45°C during the day, a temperature that has been exceeded in many cities in recent days and this explains the lower turnout compared to 2019.

In the (eastern) state of Bihar, ten election workers were killed on Thursday while setting up a polling station.

Varanasi is the city where support is strongest for the policy of strengthening ties between Hinduism and power, led by Modi since he ascended the throne.

“There is a sense of pride in everything he does, and that is why people voted for him,” Vijayendra Kumar Singh, who works at one of the hotels there, told AFP.

This year, he grandly inaugurated a magnificent temple dedicated to the god Rama in Ayodhya, on a site previously occupied by a centuries-old mosque that was destroyed by a group of Hindu fanatics in 1992.

This inauguration, as well as many other signals in favor of India's majority religion, has sparked concern among the Muslim minority, which numbers more than 200 million people.

Narendra Modi himself made controversial remarks against Muslims during his campaign, calling them “infiltrators”. He also accused the opposition coalition, formed by two dozen parties from various parties, of wanting to redistribute India's wealth to Muslims.

Janesar Akhtar, a Muslim clothing manufacturer from Varanasi, believes the BJP's nationalist campaign is aimed at diverting attention from the country's unemployment problem.

“Workshops are closed here and the Modi government is busy with the temple and mosque policy,” the 44-year-old told AFP.

– Allies against China –

Analysts have long predicted a Modi victory against an opposition alliance that has yet to nominate a candidate for prime minister.

According to political analyst Ramu Manivannan, opinion polls suggest a fresh victory for the Prime Minister but the extent of the victory remains uncertain.

“Small errors (in projections) can make a big difference” to the outcome, he told AFP.

Western democracies have largely turned a blind eye to threats to rights and freedoms in the country, in order to defend their valuable ally against China.

Narendra Modi's image is also strengthened at home by the growing influence of India, which will become the world's fifth largest economy by 2022.

“As an Indian, I feel he brings a lot of respect and prestige to India,” Shikha Aggarwal, a 40-year-old voter, told AFP.

Indians voted in seven phases over six weeks to facilitate operations in the world's most populous country.