Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (26) dropped in on his 95-year-old mother after his election landslide, a day ahead of a victory rally in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi.
Modi, 68, told his 47.6 million Twitter followers that he wanted to "seek blessings" from his mother Hiraba Modi in his home state of Gujarat in western India after his massive win.
"People this time have voted to support our programmes and a strong government. They have voted for stability and security," Modi told workers of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat earlier.
"The coming five years are going to be unprecedented for India as well as the world. It is time for India to regain it position globally. India will be influencing the world economy," he said.
Varanasi, the location for Monday's victory rally before his new government was due to be sworn in on Thursday, was Modi's constituency in the election which ended last week.
The choice of the city enables Modi to burnish his Hindu credentials, being one of the holiest places in India's majority religion where the faithful are cremated on wooden pyres beside the sacred Ganges.
The 68-year-old Modi told voters that despite hailing from Gujarat, he wasn't an outsider but Varanasi's "son of the soil".
After an acrimonious campaign Modi's BJP defied predictions of a dip in support increased its majority in the election, sweeping 303 out of 543 elected seats in parliament.
Supporters of political and religious party Jamat-e-Islami attend a rally in support of Pakistan Armed Forces in Islamabad, Pakistan, May 9, 2025. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz
People stand next to a damaged vehicle in a neighbourhood, following Pakistan's military operation against India, in Rehari, Jammu, May 10, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
