World Biz
Modi celebrates victory in India vote, but falls short of landslide
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political alliance won India’s weeks-long general election on Tuesday, but the opposition said voters had sent a clear message after his Hindu nationalist party lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in a decade.
Commentators and exit polls had projected an overwhelming victory for Modi,whose campaign wooed the Hindu majority to the worry of the country’s 200- million-plus Muslim community, deepening concerns over minority rights.
The alliance led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won an overall parliamentary majority, results on the election commission website showed late Tuesday.
But the BJP itself was projected to secure only 240 seats of its own, well down on the 303 it won at the last polls five years ago, meaning it would need to rely on its alliance partners to pass legislation.
India had given the party and its allies a mandate “for a third consecutive time”, Modi told a crowd of cheering supporters in the capital New Delhi.
“Our third term will be one of big decisions and the country will write a new chapter of development. This is Modi’s guarantee.”
But in a remarkable turnaround largely driven by deals to field single candidates against the BJP’s electoral juggernaut, the main opposition Congress party was expected to take 99 seats, almost doubling its 2019 tally of 52.
“The country has said to Narendra Modi ‘We don’t want you’,” key leader Rahul Gandhi told reporters. “I was confident that the people of this country would give the right response.”
With more than 99 percent of votes counted, the BJP’s vote share at 36.6 percent was marginally lower than at the last general election.
Modi was re-elected to his constituency representing the Hindu holy city of Varanasi by a margin of 152,300 votes — compared to nearly half a million votes five years ago.
Among the independent lawmakers elected were two serving time in jail — firebrand Sikh separatist preacher Amritpal Singh, and Sheikh Abdul Rashid from Indian-administered Kashmir, who was arrested on charges of “terror funding” and money laundering in 2019.
– ‘Moral defeat’ –
Celebrations had already begun at the headquarters of Modi’s BJP before the full announcement of results.
But the mood at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi was also one of jubilation.
“BJP has failed to win a big majority on its own,” Congress lawmaker Rajeev Shukla told reporters. “It’s a moral defeat for them.”
Stocks slumped on speculation the reduced majority would hamper the BJP’s ability to push through reforms.
Shares in the main listed unit of Adani Enterprises — owned by key Modi ally Gautam Adani — nosedived 25 percent, before rebounding slightly.
Modi’s opponents fought against a well-oiled and well-funded BJP campaign machine, and what they say are politically motivated criminal cases aimed at hobbling challengers.
US think tank Freedom House said this year that the BJP had “increasingly used government institutions to target political opponents”.
Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the capital Delhi and a key leader in an alliance formed to compete against Modi, returned to jail on Sunday.
Kejriwal, 55, was detained in March over a long-running corruption probe, but was later released and allowed to campaign as long as he returned to custody once voting ended.
“When power becomes dictatorship, then jail becomes a responsibility,” Kejriwal said before surrendering himself, vowing to continue “fighting” from behind bars.
– ‘Strength of Indian democracy’ –
Many of India’s Muslim minority are increasingly uneasy about their futures and their community’s place in the constitutionally secular country.
Modi himself made several strident comments about Muslims on the campaign trail, referring to them as “infiltrators”.
The polls were staggering in their size and logistical complexity, with 642 million voters casting their ballots — everywhere from megacities New Delhi and Mumbai to sparsely populated forest areas and the high-altitude
Himalayas.
“People should know about the strength of Indian democracy,” chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said Monday, calling the counting process “robust”.
Based on the commission’s figure of an electorate of 968 million, turnout came to 66.3 percent, down roughly one percentage point from 67.4 percent in the last polls in 2019.
Analysts have partly blamed the lower turnout on a searing heatwave across northern India, with temperatures over 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven said Friday it had rejected a takeover bid from Canadian retail giant Alimentation Couche-Tard, saying the proposal “grossly undervalues” the company.
The proposed purchase of Seven & i Holdings would be the biggest ever foreign takeover of a Japanese firm and combine 7-Eleven, Circle K and other brands across Asia, North America and Europe.
As the world’s biggest convenience store chain, 7-Eleven operates more than 85,000 outlets globally.
Although the brand began in the United States, since 2005 it has been wholly owned by Seven & i.
A letter from the Seven & i board to Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) said it was open to “engaging in sincere discussions should you put forth a proposal that fully recognises our standalone intrinsic value”.
“We do not believe, for several critical reasons, that the proposal you have put forward provides a basis for us to engage in substantive discussions regarding a potential transaction,” it said.
ACT operates more than 16,700 outlets in 31 countries and territories.
Its purchase of Seven & i would be the biggest ever foreign takeover of a Japanese firm and create an international convenience store behemoth combining 7-Eleven, Circle K and other brands across Asia, North America and Europe.
Seven & i said ACT had offered $14.86 per share in cash, which roughly matches its market value of $39 billion.
But the board’s letter called the proposal “opportunistically timed” and said it “grossly undervalues our standalone path and the additional actionable avenues we see to realise and unlock shareholder value”.
It also raised regulatory concerns.
“Your proposal does not adequately acknowledge the multiple and significant challenges such a transaction would face from US competition law enforcement agencies,” it said.
A quarter of 7-Eleven stores are found in Japan where they are a beloved institution, selling everything from concert tickets to pet food and fresh rice balls.
Seven & i Holdings’ other businesses include a major supermarket operator, restaurant chain Denny’s, and Tower Records — a once-popular US record store that went bankrupt.
Seven & i has reportedly asked the Japanese government to designate parts of the company as “core”, which would make a takeover more difficult.
Brands with the “core” rating in Japan include manufacturers in the nuclear, space, rare earths and chip industries, as well as cybersecurity and infrastructure operators.
The Canadian firm, however, is confident that it can have its way.
CEO Brian Hannasch told an earnings briefing in New York on Thursday that Couche-Tard could “even consider a higher leverage if needed”, indicating it has the capacity to raise more funds, according to Nikkei Asia.
“We have the solid and robust balance sheet,” Nikkei quoted Hannasch as saying.
Shares in Seven & i were down 1.9 percent in Tokyo on Friday.
France’s arrest of Telegram chief Pavel Durov has raised fears in Russia that the popular messaging app — used both by the Kremlin and its opponents — could be blocked, depriving them of one of the last sources of critical, uncensored news.
Since the start of its offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has cracked down on dissent and protest, leaving Russians without independent news outlets or access to Western social media such as Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.
In that climate, Telegram — which was itself blocked for a period by the Kremlin for refusing to cooperate with Russian law enforcement agencies — has become one of the last bastions of free speech and uncensored information.
Moscow now fears for the fate of the messenger and its Russian-born founder Durov, charged late August with failing to curb extremist and illegal content on the platform.
Though he has been released on bail, he cannot leave the country and the Kremlin has warned France against turning the case against him “into political persecution.”
Durov’s arrest is not the only headache the privately-owned service faces.
The European Commission is also investigating whether Telegram has more EU users than claimed and must therefore comply with more stringent rules.
– ‘For all Russians’ –
In Russia, Telegram channels widely cover subjects that are otherwise strictly censored in state media.
That includes everything from front-line reports of the conflict in Ukraine to trials of Kremlin critics and manifestos dispatched from political prisoners.
The most popular channels have millions of subscribers.
The Kremlin, government ministries and regional governors also use Telegram as their go-to public communications tool.
“Telegram is a very practical and reliable messaging service for all Russians, regardless of their political opinions,” said Alexei Venediktov, head of the Echo of Moscow radio station, blocked in Russia after its criticism of the Ukraine offensive.
The messaging service “is considered independent of the Russian state,” the veteran journalist — who has over 200,000 subscribers there — told AFP.
Blocking Telegram would be equivalent to “a measure of censorship,” he said.
– ‘Main source of information’ –
Telegram’s popularity has grown steadily in Russia throughout the Ukraine conflict, after Russia blocked access to Instagram, Facebook and X, as well as the websites of several opposition media outlets.
It is the fourth most popular online service, ahead of YouTube and the Russian social network VKontakte, according to a study by Russian media research group Mediascope.
It is also heavily focused on news. Two-thirds of its Russian readers prefer to follow political and news channels, with only six percent preferring entertainment or cinema, for instance.
Mila, a 45-year-old psychologist, said she started using it after Facebook was blocked and she now subscribes to some 80 Telegram news channels. She also uses it to communicate privately with friends who are against the offensive in Ukraine.
“Today, it is my main source of information. If Telegram stops working, it will hurt me a lot,” Mila told AFP, speaking on condition her full name not be used.
Naida, a 56-year-old logistician said she trusts Telegram more than other messaging services.
“And all the news is there, you don’t need to have a VPN on all the time,” she said.
Telegram is now “the main source of information” for those seeking independent views, said political scientist Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.
“Telegram has no alternative” in Russia, she said, adding the free flow of information on the service is a throwback to before President Vladimir Putin began to crack down hard on dissent.
– Battlefield communications –
Amid the conflict in Ukraine, the platform has also become a key military communication tool.
Both Russia and Ukraine warn their populations of incoming air attacks via Telegram posts, while their armies use it to communicate and coordinate internally.
“Telegram has almost become the main way of commanding units on both sides of the front,” said Mikhail Zvinchuk, a former military officer whose Telegram blog on the conflict, Rybar, has more than 1.3 million subscribers.
Pro-Kremlin Russian journalist Andrei Medvedev also said Telegram was “the main messaging service” of the conflict.
“It is an alternative to the secret military communication system,” he said.
Thanks to its broad appeal across the political spectrum, the fate of Durov and the implications for the site have become a rare point of unifying concern.
Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin, recently released as part of a historic prisoner exchange with the West, is among those who have taken Durov’s side.
“I do not consider Pavel Durov a criminal, and I hope that he will be able to prove his innocence,” Yashin said.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has pledged the UN’s full support to Bangladesh’s interim government in its efforts to restore an inclusive and prosperous democracy. In a message directed to Chief Adviser Prof Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Guterres expressed his best wishes following Yunus’s assumption of the interim government’s leadership and lauded the efforts to bring stability and organize parliamentary elections in Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh is at a pivotal moment in its history,” Guterres remarked. “The United Nations is fully committed to supporting the efforts towards an inclusive and prosperous democracy. We are ready to work closely with your government and provide any necessary assistance through the Resident Coordinator and the United Nations Country Team to benefit the people of Bangladesh.”
Guterres emphasized that during this transitional phase, Prof Yunus’s leadership will be critical in ending violence, ensuring accountability, restoring law and order, and steering the country towards democratic elections.
He also underscored the importance of adopting an inclusive approach by the interim government, highlighting the need to consider the voices of youths, women, minorities, and indigenous communities.
Additionally, the UN Secretary-General urged the interim government to ensure the protection of all citizens, particularly minorities, and expressed concern over the situation of Rohingya refugees. “I strongly encourage you to safeguard the wellbeing of Rohingya refugees, especially in light of the worsening situation in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar,” he stated.
