‘India is our mother. How can we watch our mother cry?’

India’s incoming prime minister Narendra Modi arrived in New Delhi for a victory parade after a jubilant welcome from his supporters at the main airport.

With more than six times the seats of his closest rival, the Hindu nationalist has the most decisive mandate for a leader since 1984. He has promised to improve the lives of all people in India.

“I want to make the 21st century India’s century. It will take 10 years, not very long,” Modi told supporters in his home state of Gujarat.

“India is our mother. How can we watch our mother cry?”

The day after leading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a landslide election victory, Modi was mobbed by hundreds of flag-waving supporters when he flew in from his home state of Gujarat.

Supporters gathered along the route he is set to take to BJP headquarters in central New Delhi.

Speech

In his speech, the prime minister-elect pledged to make good governance and development cornerstones of his administration.

“People used to believe that you couldn’t run an election on the basis of development, that to win an election you had to hand out scraps to people,” Modi said.

“Modi will be PM with the BJP winning, that’s been decided, but I am thinking ahead.

“Those politicians who don’t believe in development, who ran away from development during the election, they too will accept development as an election platform in the coming days.”

Modi has promised “good days are coming” in his first reaction to the historic victory by the BJP. “India has won. Good days are coming,” Modi wrote on Twitter shortly before he went to seek blessings from his mother.

Outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Modi to congratulate him on his party’s thumping victory, Singh’s office said in a tweet. Leaders from around the world, have congratulated Mr Modi on his success.

Outside BJP party headquarters in New Delhi, jubilant supporters banged drums, lit firecrackers and waved flags as results showed Modi ahead in both the seats he is contested in Gujarat and the holy city of Varanasi.

“This victory represents a tectonic shift in the electoral landscape,” said senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Crowds roared “Hail Modi, Hail Modi” outside BJP party headquarters in Ahmedabad, which is the main city in Gujarat state where Modi has been chief minister since 2001.

Modi celebrated in low-key style, visiting his elderly mother in the state capital of Gandhinagar.

She fed him sweets and offered him a blessing as they sat outside on her porch with children, well-wishers and the media looking on.India’s stock market jumped more than 6 percent to a record high of 25,000 points on news that Modi was headed for a comprehensive election victory.

The rupee also surged 1.14 percent to 58.62 against the US dollar. The currency has been strengthening in recent weeks on expectations that Modi would win the marathon five-week election and introduce structural reforms to turn the economy around. It has now risen 17.45 percent since it sank to a record low of 68.85 last August with investors worried about a fiscal deficit crisis and waning confidence as the government struggled to boost growth in the face of global economic turmoil.

Markets have risen 5 percent in the past week as heady, many say unrealistic, optimism has returned after low business investment and economic growth, rising food prices and corruption.

India’s central bank said it has contingency plans ready to deal with any excessive volatility in the markets from the election results.

Since being named as his party’s candidate last September, Modi has flown 300,000 kilometres and addressed 457 rallies in a slick, presidential-style campaign that has broken the mould of Indian politics.

Analysts say Modi has outclassed Gandhi, 43, while promoting his pro-business record as chief minister of Gujarat.

Singh has already said goodbye to his staff after a decade in office, which commentators say has been marked by mounting policy paralysis.

- ANN