On May 23, 2019, Narendra Modi became only the second non-Congress prime minister to win two consecutive terms. The Bharatiya Janata Party ...
On May 23, 2019, Narendra Modi became only the second non-Congress prime minister to win two consecutive terms. The Bharatiya Janata Party won more than 37% of the popular vote with 303 seats in the Lok Sabha, giving it 55% of seats in the House – marking just the second time a party had an absolute majority since 1984.
Back-to-back wins by the BJP meant the moment was historic, cementing the saffron party’s place as India’s most powerful party, significantly eclipsing the Congress, which had ruled India for decades after independence. Political scientists even started to argue that India now had a new party system, with the older coalition era giving way to one in which the BJP was the clearly dominant pole.
However, since then the BJP’s fortunes have belied its massive mandate. While the Modi government did pass wide-ranging, controversial legislation in Parliament, it has had much less luck in actually being able to implement these policies.
Sweeping legislation
In August, just a little over two months after Modi was sworn into office, the BJP pushed through moves that revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir – legally coded as Article 370 of the Indian Constitution – under which it had acceded to the...
