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Narendra Modi will be the next prime minister of India, with counting trends showing a resounding election victory for the BJP-led NDA.
Modi's landslide win was welcomed with a thundering rally on the stock markets and jubilant celebrations at offices across the country of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), where supporters danced, exploded fireworks and handed out sweets.
Trends showed the BJP crossing the majority mark of 272 on its own, giving Modi the most decisive mandate for any leader since the 1984 assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi propelled her son to office.
This means unlike his predecessors, Modi will not have to deal with unruly coalition partners as he implements reform. That could usher in economic changes as he tries to replicate his success in Gujarat on the national stage.
"He can afford to have a smaller but stronger cabinet, that means a far more decisive government. He has been saying less government and more governance, we are really likely to see that," said Navneet Munot, Chief Investment Officer at SBI Funds management in Mumbai.
With India's economy suffering its worst slowdown since the 1980s and battling high inflation, it will not be an easy task to meet the hopes of millions of Indians who have bought into the idea that Modi will quickly push their country onto the top table of global economic powers.
Modi, who won from both his constituencies of Varanasi and Vadodara, called it a victory for India, tweeting his poll plank of Ache Din Aane Waale Hain (Good days are going to come).
DESIRE FOR CHANGE
The 63-year-old's promises of job creation and clean, efficient government seems to have resonated with many of the half a billion people who braved blistering summer heat to vote in the world's biggest election over the last five weeks.
Since being named as his party's candidate last September, Modi has flown 300,000 km and addressed 457 rallies in a slick, presidential-style campaign that has broken the mould of Indian politics.
Modi's media-savvy, modern campaign beat that of Congress' Rahul Gandhi. The Congress was headed for its worst-ever result after two terms in office, its campaign marred by corruption and a floundering economy. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who as finance minister launched reforms in 1991 that brought an end to decades of economic isolation, has already bid farewell to his staff after ten years in office marked by mounting policy paralysis.
Congress called the dismal show a collective failure. "Going by the election trends that have come so far, we humbly admit the defeat of Congress and UPA as people's mandate.... We will introspect and then we will deliberate on our future role as a political party," senior party leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi told reporters.
The alliance led by the BJP was winning in 334 seats of the 543-seat parliament, counting trends showed. The BJP alone looked set for an absolute majority, with 283 seats.
Responding to the news, markets got off to a roaring start, with the rupee breaking below 59 to the US dollar, an 11-month high, and the Sensex jumped 6% before paring its gains.
Betting on a Modi win, foreign investors have poured more than $16 billion into Indian stocks and bonds in the past six months and now hold over 22% of Mumbai-listed equities - a stake estimated by Morgan Stanley at almost $280 billion.
"MODINOMICS"
Modi has promised that, if elected, he would take decisive action to unblock stalled investments in power, road and rail projects to revive economic growth.
Tax and labour market reforms, backed by a gradual opening up to foreign investment, would seek to create the 10 million jobs that Asia's third-largest economy must create every year to employ young people entering the workforce.
Modi watched the results on TV at his home in Gujarat, and met his mother, 95-year-old Hiraben, soon after results become clear. "My blessings are there. The country will develop. My blessings are there," she said.
He was later expected to embark on a victory tour to his local constituency of Vadodara, while party workers in New Delhi hoped he would later fly to New Delhi for what could be a hero's welcome.
