Democracy has won, says India's Modi in victory speech

Friday, 24 May 2019 08:37

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked voters for giving him a "historic mandate".

During his victory speech at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in New Delhi, Modi said "India wins yet again" and thanked the people for their support.

"We all want a new India. I want to bow down my head and say thank you."

He pledged to devote every moment of his life to make the country "strong by 2022".

Late on Thursday, main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi conceded defeat.

Votes are still being counted, but Election Commission data projected Modi's BJP to win 300 seats on its own.

The final tally is expected by Friday morning.

More from International News

US military targets IS in Syria strikes

The US military said on Saturday it carried out multiple strikes in Syria targeting ISIS as part of an operation that Washington launched in December after an attack on American personnel.
Israeli fire kills three people in Gaza, tension rises

Israeli fire killed at least three Palestinians in two separate incidents across Gaza, local health authorities said, as tension rises over continued violence.
Tens of thousands protest in Minneapolis over fatal ICE shooting

Tens of thousands of people marched through Minneapolis on Saturday to decry the fatal shooting of a woman by a US immigration agent, part of more than 1,000 rallies planned nationwide over the weekend against the federal government's deportation drive.
One dead in Australian bush fires

At least one person has died in Australia's southeast where bushfires raging for days have razed buildings, cut power to thousands of homes and burned swathes of bushland, police said on Sunday.