India Election Live Updates and Results: Modi’s Lead Narrower Than Expected

And Mr. Modi has revitalized India’s economy in a way that matters most to voters: He has made infrastructure expansion visible and distributed welfare benefits to the majority of Indians, who remain poor by global standards , even as the country’s highest income groups learn to adapt their policies. purchasing power.

Most of the rest of the world – particularly the United States and other Western countries that hope to persuade India to join them in limiting the strategic ambitions of China and Russia – wants the Indian economy accelerates.

Part of this story could be a shift in manufacturing, like the one Apple has underway in South India. And investment professionals around the world are eagerly waiting for India’s successes under Mr Modi to start paying dividends they cannot find elsewhere.

But even the most enthusiastic investors can’t ignore some of the problems India faces as it becomes the new global heavyweight. While Mr Modi gloated about a successful moon landing and the country’s innovative “digital public infrastructure”, the political opposition tried to speak beyond him to the frustrated masses demanding more and better jobs .

The opposition has also tried to stir up public anger over Mr Modi’s ties to the country’s top tycoons. This does not seem to have worked, either in politics or in the markets, in the case of Gautam Adani. Last year, the billionaire’s empire was accused, with much fanfare and fury, of stock market manipulation. But the claims had little success and Adani’s shares began to soar again.