海角大神

Never has India had a prime minister like Narendra Modi.

The right wing Hindu nationalist who swept to power in parliamentary elections, according to official results聽Friday, is a proud outsider. A self-made man whose father sold tea at a railroad station, his blunt style, poor English, and disdain for social graces have made him as distasteful to India鈥檚 traditional ruling class as he is popular elsewhere.

鈥淗e is breaking the door down,鈥� says Tavleen Singh, a political columnist. 鈥淗e is the wrong caste, the wrong class, the wrong everything.鈥�

Mr. Modi, a barrel-chested man with a neatly trimmed white beard and mustache, is the first leader of a provincial state to win India鈥檚 top political prize. He campaigned hard on his record of economic success in the western state of Gujarat, promising similar benefits for the rest of the country under his leadership.

鈥淗e is a doer 鈥� who could galvanize the country,鈥� says Gurcharan Das, a multinational company executive turned author. 鈥淗e is determined and hungry and he can carry people with his sense of purpose.鈥�

Modi鈥檚 image as a strong leader was particularly appealing in the wake of an ineffectual government led by the Congress party, which found it hard to make decisions. 鈥淢odi stepped into a leadership vacuum,鈥� says political commentator Neerja Chowdhury.

But the next prime minister鈥檚 strongman image has compounded alarm about his political rise among India鈥檚 Muslim minority, which makes up 19 percent of the population. Many Muslims worry about Modi鈥檚 ties to the RSS, a radical group that envisions India as a sacred nation to which only Hindus truly belong. And they recall that he was Gujarat鈥檚 chief minister in 2002, when Hindu rioters massacred 2,000 Muslims.

Suspicions that Modi did not do all he might have done to stem the violence have cast a shadow over his political standing. The United States has refused him a visa since the massacre on the grounds that he bore 鈥渞esponsibility for the performance of state institutions鈥� such as the police. But relations have been slowly improving, and US officials have said whoever won the election would be welcome in the US.聽

But economic policy, not religion, is likely to prove the defining feature of his leadership, says Siddarth Varadarajan, former editor of The Hindu newspaper. 鈥淗e is the most trusted choice of Indian big business today,鈥� says Mr. Varadarajan. 鈥淭hat is what he represents.鈥�

During his election campaign, heavily funded by Indian businessmen, Modi promised to welcome investors with 鈥渞ed carpets, not red tape.鈥� He put single-minded emphasis on the need for development and economic growth, and stressed the creation of wealth rather than its distribution through welfare programs, which has been the Congress party鈥檚 traditional approach.聽

His record in Gujarat on this front has been generally good, but Modi鈥檚 political style worries critics who value India鈥檚 tradition of consensual decisionmaking. 鈥淗e loves controversy and he courts it,鈥� says Ms. Chowdhury. 鈥淚t鈥檚 his way of getting his message across.鈥�

He is also known as a loner who likes to keep personal control over even minor details of policy, and who delegates little responsibility to his subordinates.

At the same time, he has a reputation for honesty in a country that is drowning in corruption; he and his relatives are known to live simply, which is unusual for Indian political leaders.

鈥淗e is very passionate about governance and he looks at it as a mission,鈥� says Rajeev Chandrasekhar, an IT millionaire who is now an independent member of the upper house of parliament. 鈥淗e strikes you as idealistic to a fault.鈥�

During a presidential-style campaign that put his name and track record high above those of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Modi tapped into the electorate鈥檚 desperation for change after a decade of rule by the Congress party.

鈥淗e is a risk, because he is communal,鈥� playing on his religious identity, says Mr. Das, who voted BJP for the first time in his life this year. 鈥淏ut I voted for Modi because he is our best chance鈥� of economic prosperity.

As India turns a page, says one foreign diplomat, 鈥淢odi could turn out for the best, or he could turn out for the worst.鈥澛�