The top political experts from the United States who keenly follow Indian politics have something to predict for the 2019 general elections. The predictions are likely to bring a big smile on the faces of BJP supporters and fans of Narendra Modi. According to the top US experts, Narendra Modi is the clear favorite for the 2019 general elections. The recent landslide victory of Narendra Modi led BJP in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have made immensely strengthened the prospects of Narendra Modi continuing as India’s Prime Minister after 2019. The experts have also said that the results in 2014 were not just a fluke and PM Modi continues to inspire.
“The Assembly elections do not signal much of a change. The Uttar Pradesh election results showed that the 2014 general elections were not an “aberration”,” Adam Ziegfeld, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University said. “It was a big win for the BJP. Its candidate won with much larger margin of victory than compared to the two previous winners – BSP and Samajwadi Party,” he said.
Modi has been established by this election as the “clear and favourite winner” for the 2019 elections, Sadanand Dhume, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute said. “Modi is the front runner (for 2019),” he said. “Demonetisation is extremely popular. Indian people who have suffered themselves in the wake of the policy, it won their heart and mind. Here is this man of sincerity who struck a principled blow to corrupt and the rich,” Dhume said referring to his conversation with people in Uttar Pradesh.
Similar views have been echoed by many journalists, political scientists and analysts all across the world who feel that Narendra Modi’s popularity is at an all time high because of demonetisation, surgical strikes and the sheer fact that people see a hope in him. However, some political experts have also cautioned that if all the opposition parties come together and a form a mega anti-Modi alliance, it may get difficult for the BJP to obtain a landslide majority in 2019. However, as long as the opposition remains fragmented, there is no stopping Narendra Modi !
Kshitij Mohan
