In India this is true General elections ended after more than six weeks. The last polling stations closed on Saturday at 18.00 local time (14.30 CEST). At the end of the world's biggest poll, residents in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, were asked to vote. According to opinion polls, Modi is likely to get a third term and will therefore rule for another five years. However, the final results are not expected to come out until Tuesday.

According to estimates distributed by CNN-News18, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that supports Modi and his allies will win at least 355 seats in parliament in New Delhi. Only 272 seats are needed to achieve a majority. Broadcaster NDTV also saw Modi's alliance clearly ahead in post-election polls. Shortly after the last polling station closed, Modi signaled his victory. “I can say with confidence that the people of India voted in large numbers to re-elect the NDA government,” he wrote in X.

Modi's BJP party is pursuing a strong Hindu nationalist path. Critics and the opposition fear that if re-elected, the BJP will try to change the constitution to further consolidate those policies. It remains to be seen whether the party can expand the majority it needs in parliament. Modi will be his country's second head of government to serve a third term in office – after India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Election campaign with economic issues

Since mid-April, a total of around one billion eligible voters have been called to choose the composition of the lower house of the national parliament, which has more than 500 seats. To overcome the enormous logistical effort in the world's most populous country, voting was conducted in seven stages. More than 8,000 candidates took part.

Compared with the previous election five years ago, the number of voters participating was lower. This may be partly due to the heat wave in northern India. Authorities in the northeastern state of Bihar announced on Friday that ten poll workers had died of heat stroke the previous day. In Varanasi, the maximum temperature is expected to be 44 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

Prime Minister Modi presented himself as a strong man during the election campaign and pointed to strong economic growth attracting investors. Under his leadership, the subcontinent has become the fifth largest economic power in the world. Success under Modi India became the fourth country to land on the moon. He also invested heavily in modern infrastructure such as roads, express trains, and airports. However, growth is uneven. During the election campaign, Modi's critics pointed to high unemployment and inflation.