From the Editor-in-Chief
The recent victory of the BJP and the decimation of the opposition alliance has blown away all assessments. The opposition parties threw all the caste combinations and regional alliances that they could at the BJP, but it all came to nought. Prime Minister Modi has earned his credibility because many of his schemes like open defecation-free India, affordable rural housing, free gas connections or medical insurance have delivered, by and large. Those yet to benefit have got something else in the meanwhile. Hope. That's what he gives them. Hope.
There are moments in the history of a nation when the voice of the people reverberates across the country. They are usually turning points which change the political landscape of the country. Narendra Modi's recent stunning victory is one such event. Not since Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's landslide victory in the 1971 Lok Sabha election has a prime minister returned with consecutive majorities. I have witnessed two other such moments in the 44 years of this magazine's existence. The first was the general election in March 1977 after Indira Gandhi lifted the Emergency. Indians shouted with their votes that they
