India’s polarising prime minister made this an election all about himself.
He should have faced some anti-incumbency. Joblessness has risen to a record high, farm incomes have plummeted and industrial production has slumped. Many Indians were hit hard by the currency ban (also known as demonetisation), which was designed to flush out undeclared wealth, and there were complaints about what critics said was a poorly-designed and complicated uniform sales tax.
The results prove that people are not yet blaming Mr Modi for this.
On the stump, the prime minister repeatedly told people that he needed more than five years to undo more than “60 years of mismanagement”. Voters agreed to give him more time.
Many Indians seem to believe that Mr Modi is a kind of messiah who will solve all their problems. A survey by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), a Delhi-based think tank, a third of BJP voters said they would have supported another party if Mr Modi was not the prime ministerial candidate.
