What happens to the key promises of India PM Modi's party after a slimmer win?
World
What happens to the key promises of India PM Modi's party after a slimmer win?
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to rely on regional allies to form the next government after his party failed to win a majority on its own, according to trends from an ongoing vote count on Tuesday.
Here are some of the promises of his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and analyst views on what could happen to them:
UNIFORM CIVIL CODE
The BJP's manifesto promised a national code to replace religion-specific civil laws in the country, a move many Muslims say is aimed at curbing centuries-old religious practices that the minority follows.
A uniform set of civil laws has been one of BJP's core promises but is communally contentious.
Indians from different religions follow laws specific to their faith or opt for a secular code. Laws on who and how many people a person can marry, how to end a marriage, and inheritance differ by religion. The new code will spell out the same set of rules for everyone.
The BJP says the code is critical to ensure gender justice, equality and to foster national unity and integration.
Analysts say plans for the code could be set aside in favour of bread and butter issues.
TEMPLES AT CONTROVERSIAL SITES
After Modi inaugurated a temple to the Hindu God Ram at a fiercely contested site earlier this year, fulfilling a long-held promise, some party leaders said in election rallies that another emphatic electoral victory would help them build temples on other disputed sites.
Hindu groups have long claimed that for centuries Muslim invaders built mosques over demolished Hindu temples. Courts are hearing cases against two such mosques in BJP-run Uttar Pradesh state: in Modi's Varanasi constituency and in Mathura.
