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| Modi, India’s Next Prime Minister, Adopts a New Tone | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| NEW DELHI — Narendra Modi, the son of a provincial tea seller, was overcome by emotion on Tuesday after members of his political group, the Bharatiya Janata Party, endorsed him as India’s next prime minister, telling the assembled crowd, “This is the power of our Constitution, which has given this power to the commonest of the common people.” | NEW DELHI — Narendra Modi, the son of a provincial tea seller, was overcome by emotion on Tuesday after members of his political group, the Bharatiya Janata Party, endorsed him as India’s next prime minister, telling the assembled crowd, “This is the power of our Constitution, which has given this power to the commonest of the common people.” |
| Mr. Modi, 63, who once hoped to become a monk and then rose through the ranks of a Hindu nationalist organization, knelt and kissed the steps of the Indian Parliament building here as he entered, a gesture typically made when crossing the threshold of a temple. When he choked up at the lectern where he spoke, comparing serving India with serving his mother, many of his supporters could be seen dabbing tears away. | Mr. Modi, 63, who once hoped to become a monk and then rose through the ranks of a Hindu nationalist organization, knelt and kissed the steps of the Indian Parliament building here as he entered, a gesture typically made when crossing the threshold of a temple. When he choked up at the lectern where he spoke, comparing serving India with serving his mother, many of his supporters could be seen dabbing tears away. |
| Before the country’s recent election, Mr. Modi conducted an aggressive, sometimes caustic campaign against the governing party, the centrist Indian National Congress, whose popularity has been damaged by corruption scandals and stalling economic growth. | Before the country’s recent election, Mr. Modi conducted an aggressive, sometimes caustic campaign against the governing party, the centrist Indian National Congress, whose popularity has been damaged by corruption scandals and stalling economic growth. |
| But on Tuesday, he adopted a gentler and more inclusive tone, calling on Indians to share his sense of optimism and announcing that “a new hope has arisen in the common man.” | But on Tuesday, he adopted a gentler and more inclusive tone, calling on Indians to share his sense of optimism and announcing that “a new hope has arisen in the common man.” |
| “At the end of the day, who is the government for? It is for the poor,” said Mr. Modi. “For rural areas, farmers, untouchables, the weak and the pained, this government is for them. To meet their aspirations and hopes, this is our priority, because our weakest, our poorest have sent us here.” | “At the end of the day, who is the government for? It is for the poor,” said Mr. Modi. “For rural areas, farmers, untouchables, the weak and the pained, this government is for them. To meet their aspirations and hopes, this is our priority, because our weakest, our poorest have sent us here.” |
| He added, “I will do everything to fulfill their aspirations.” | He added, “I will do everything to fulfill their aspirations.” |
| President Pranab Mukherjee set May 26 as Mr. Modi’s swearing-in date. The B.J.P. secured 282 of Parliament’s 543 seats in the election, limiting Congress to 44 seats, a historic low. Because India has a first-past-the-post system, the disparity is far smaller in terms of total percentage of the vote, with the B.J.P. having received 31 percent to Congress’s 19.3 percent. The remaining seats are held by smaller parties, many allied with either the B.J.P. or Congress. | President Pranab Mukherjee set May 26 as Mr. Modi’s swearing-in date. The B.J.P. secured 282 of Parliament’s 543 seats in the election, limiting Congress to 44 seats, a historic low. Because India has a first-past-the-post system, the disparity is far smaller in terms of total percentage of the vote, with the B.J.P. having received 31 percent to Congress’s 19.3 percent. The remaining seats are held by smaller parties, many allied with either the B.J.P. or Congress. |
| With its majority, the B.J.P. will be able to form a government without having to attract regional leaders as allies, something no party other than Congress has achieved. Critics fear that this will untie Mr. Modi’s hands to pursue the cultural agenda of the Hindu far right, a risky path in a country that is 15 percent Muslim and with sizable Sikh and Christian communities. | With its majority, the B.J.P. will be able to form a government without having to attract regional leaders as allies, something no party other than Congress has achieved. Critics fear that this will untie Mr. Modi’s hands to pursue the cultural agenda of the Hindu far right, a risky path in a country that is 15 percent Muslim and with sizable Sikh and Christian communities. |
| But supporters have urged Mr. Modi to see the results as a mandate for bringing radical change to New Delhi. | But supporters have urged Mr. Modi to see the results as a mandate for bringing radical change to New Delhi. |
| A first sign of that effort came on Monday, when, according to The Hindustan Times, cabinet secretaries were asked to report to him on goals that could be achieved in the next five years and to describe “what in your view shouldn’t have been done” by the departing government, as well as their main achievements under Congress, and “the gap between the actual result and the intended plan.” | A first sign of that effort came on Monday, when, according to The Hindustan Times, cabinet secretaries were asked to report to him on goals that could be achieved in the next five years and to describe “what in your view shouldn’t have been done” by the departing government, as well as their main achievements under Congress, and “the gap between the actual result and the intended plan.” |
| “There will be gratuitous advice showered on the new prime minister to shed his combativeness and be socialized into a new role,” Swapan Dasgupta, a journalist who supports Mr. Modi, wrote last week in The Times of India. “Modi must resist the temptations of yielding to the merchants of caution. The vote is for a radical rupture with the fundamental assumptions of governance.” | “There will be gratuitous advice showered on the new prime minister to shed his combativeness and be socialized into a new role,” Swapan Dasgupta, a journalist who supports Mr. Modi, wrote last week in The Times of India. “Modi must resist the temptations of yielding to the merchants of caution. The vote is for a radical rupture with the fundamental assumptions of governance.” |
| In the days since his victory, Mr. Modi has repeatedly compared his mission with India’s struggle for independence from Britain, suggesting that his planned campaign for development will require sacrifice. He agreed to live a celibate life in his 20s, when he became a full-time worker for a Hindu right-wing organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and he remains highly disciplined in his habits, rising before sunrise and restricting his diet. | In the days since his victory, Mr. Modi has repeatedly compared his mission with India’s struggle for independence from Britain, suggesting that his planned campaign for development will require sacrifice. He agreed to live a celibate life in his 20s, when he became a full-time worker for a Hindu right-wing organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and he remains highly disciplined in his habits, rising before sunrise and restricting his diet. |
| On Monday, he promised to throw himself into his new role like a “disciplined soldier,” and said accepting a responsibility required the devotion of “every part of your body, every moment in time.” He noted that during his grueling campaign, which often required him to travel across the country to lead four rallies per day in the scorching heat of summer, he had canceled only one scheduled event, and only because someone at the venue had died in an accident. | On Monday, he promised to throw himself into his new role like a “disciplined soldier,” and said accepting a responsibility required the devotion of “every part of your body, every moment in time.” He noted that during his grueling campaign, which often required him to travel across the country to lead four rallies per day in the scorching heat of summer, he had canceled only one scheduled event, and only because someone at the venue had died in an accident. |
| The most striking moment on Tuesday came after a senior party member, L.K. Advani, thanked Mr. Modi for doing him and the B.J.P. a “favor.” | The most striking moment on Tuesday came after a senior party member, L.K. Advani, thanked Mr. Modi for doing him and the B.J.P. a “favor.” |
| “I would request him not to use that word,” Mr. Modi said, then leaned over the lectern, apparently so moved that he was unable to speak. He asked for a glass of water, then continued. “Can devotion to a mother ever be a favor? Never. As India is my mother, the B.J.P. is my mother, too. And that is why a son can never do a favor for his mother, but only serve her. It is the party that has done me a favor by giving me the opportunity to serve this mother.” | “I would request him not to use that word,” Mr. Modi said, then leaned over the lectern, apparently so moved that he was unable to speak. He asked for a glass of water, then continued. “Can devotion to a mother ever be a favor? Never. As India is my mother, the B.J.P. is my mother, too. And that is why a son can never do a favor for his mother, but only serve her. It is the party that has done me a favor by giving me the opportunity to serve this mother.” |