NEW DELHI—Days after winning a landslide election victory, India’s Narendra Modicalled on his countrymen to shed their pessimism and vowed to create new opportunitiesfor the country’s 1.2 billion people.
Mr. Modi, a politician with Hindu nationalist roots and a pro-business agenda, was namedprime minister on Tuesday by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and asked to form a cabinet. He is to be sworn into office on Monday, the president’s office said.
Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party won 282 of 545 seats in India’s lower house of Parliament in marathon national elections that ended last week. The BJP delivered a humiliating defeat to its main rival, the left-leaning Congress party, which won just 44 seats.
On Tuesday, Mr. Modi, in nationally televised remarks, promised to “restore faith” in India. “In a big and vibrant democracy like ours, if each of the 1.25 billion Indians takes one step, our country will move forward by 1.25 billion steps,” he said.
“I have seen a new face of India,” Mr. Modi said. “Our dream is to fulfill their dreams.”
The bearded, 63-year-old Mr. Modi, who for more than a decade pushed economic growth as chief minister of the westernstate of Gujarat, stuck to the themes that formed the core of his campaign: good governance and development for the South Asian nation.
Mr. Modi’s optimistic message struck a chord with an electorate frustrated with a sharply slowing economy, perceived corruption and policy paralysis. The BJP’s victory was the first time in 30 years that any one party has secured an outright majority in Parliament’s lower house.
Gurcharan Das, an author and political analyst, said the Tuesday address underlined Mr. Modi’s “single-minded focus.”
“Most leaders have a laundry list, a big jumble of things to talk about when they are taking office,” Mr. Das said. “He has the language of a doer, someone who has two or three priorities.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated Mr. Modi in a statement Tuesday, in which he said the U.S. “stands ready to work closely” with Mr. Modi “to promote shared prosperity and strengthen our security.”
India’s opposition leader, Narendra Modi swept elections to win the prime minister’s seat. What will a change in India’s leadership mean for the U.S.? WSJ’s William Mauldin reports. Photo: Getty Images.
The U.S., which rejected Mr. Modi’s visa in 2005 over allegations that he didn’t do enough to stop deadly religious riots in Gujarat in 2002, has made numerous efforts to reach out to Mr. Modi. Mr. Modi denies all allegations and a court said last year that there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute him.
Washington sees India as a potential market for its companies and as a crucial ally to counterbalance China’s influence in the region. On Tuesday, Mr. Kerry called the Indo-U.S. friendship “absolutely vital.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also congratulated Mr. Modi in a phone call Monday in which Mr. Abe said India-Japan ties have “the largest potential for development of any bilateral relationship anywhere in the world.” Mr. Abe invited Mr. Modi to Japan.
Mr. Modi spoke Tuesday at a meeting of BJP parliamentarians in the central hall of India’s Parliament where the country’s constitution was drafted more than 60 years ago. Before entering, he touched his forehead to the ground in a sign of reverence.
The son of a tea-seller, Mr. Modi acknowledged the change he represented in India’s corridors of power, long controlled by the elite, and hailed as proof of India’s democracy that “a man from a poor family was standing in this position today.”
The BJP’s victory represents “the dawn of a new era” for a party founded in 1980, said Rajnath Singh, the BJP’s president. He said 1989 elections established the BJP as a viable alternative to Congress, but that Mr. Modi had transformed India’s political landscape into a contest of “BJP vs. Others.”
“This is a historic day,” Mr. Singh said. “It is the first time in India’s modern history that a party other than the Congress will form a government with a full majority.”
Mr. Modi—who rose through the ranks of the party and a Hindu nationalist group that supports it—choked up and stopped his speech to drink water. “Just like India is my mother, the BJP is my mother,” Mr. Modi said.
He underscored the broad support his party had received from people across caste and class divisions, a departure from its earlier reputation as a party of urbanites and businesspeople. In an effort to reach out to this new constituency, Mr. Modi said he would run a government for the marginalized.
“This will be a government for the poor, one that listens to the poor, one that lives for the poor,” Mr. Modi said. “It will be dedicated to the poor, millions of youngsters and women.”
Mr. Modi faces high expectations from voters, who could easily become disillusioned if he fails to rapidly deliver on his promises to get the economy back on track, tackle corruption and restore the country’s stature overseas.
He must also win the confidence of the country’s religious minorities, some of whom see him as a Hindu hard-liner. Muslims, especially, have expressed unease, fearing that Mr. Modi’s rise will embolden hard-line Hindus and raise religious tensions.
“I would have liked to see him, at this early stage, reach out [to the minorities] in an explicit way,” Mr. Das said. “Just a few extra words or sentences would have gone a long way in allaying fears the minorities have.”
During months of campaigning, Mr. Modi toured the country, slamming the Congress party and its leadership as weak, out of touch and privileged. He won the support of a new generation of aspirational Indians who have middle class dreams and are no longer satisfied with Congress’s pro-poor welfare policies.
But on Tuesday, he adopted a conciliatory tone, saying that each of India’s previous governments has contributed to India’s progress.