Early Trends and Prospects for Modi's Prime Ministership

In May 2014 Narendra Modi became India’s Prime Minister in the wake of a historic electoral victory. He has generated two kinds of expectations: on the one hand, his voters expect him to create millions of new jobs for a fast-growing working age population; on the other hand, Hindu extremists hope that he will pursue an aggressive policy aimed at ‘hinduising’ India’s society. The first months of his premiership show that Modi is acting in both spheres, while pursuing a radical centralisation of power in his hands.

Keywords: India, Modi, centralisation, political economy, communalism