Mr Modi’s government has failed to protect India from disastrous unemployment levels, the highest in 45 years, according to government data leaked to the press earlier this year. While the economy is growing, millions are out of work despite Mr Modi’s 2014 pledges to create jobs, reform taxation and boost India’s manufacturing sector.
In a country where agriculture employs more than half of the entire workforce, farmers are suffering from low prices and crippling debts. But Indians believe their Prime Minister has protected them from a far greater danger than economic woe: Pakistan.
When the two countries spiralled towards the brink of war after a terror attack in Kashmir in February, Mr Modi sent warplanes to bomb Pakistan. Even though there were no casualties and no proof the bombs hit their targets Indian nationalism was masterfully stoked by Mr Modi at every turn.
In a narrative that echoes the style of US President Donald Trump, Mr Modi reassured that they were “winning”. When Mr Modi declared election victory on Twitter, he didn’t even mention his party or portray the election as a contest between two sides.
“India wins yet again!” he tweeted. Mr Modi now heads what is probably the strongest government India has seen since independence in 1947, and can claim one of the strongest mandates ever bestowed on an Indian prime minister.
With so much power in the hands of one man, there will be no room for losers in the world’s biggest democracy.