Even in Muslim heartlands, India's Modi racks up gains

By John Chalmers and Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) - He has been pilloried for horrific riots in which hundreds of Muslims were killed on his watch in western India 12 years ago. And yet, a Reuters analysis of Friday's sweeping election victory for Narendra Modi shows that many of India's Muslim voters appear to have put aside their fears and backed his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has promised to bring jobs and a revival of the economy. Alongside the sheer scale of Modi's triumph, the change in attitude among a sizeable proportion of the Muslim community is one of the most surprising outcomes of a vote where social and economic aspirations appear to have overridden other concerns. With counting of votes cast for parliamentary seats still underway, data provided by the Election Commission showed that in constituencies where the population of Muslims is more than 20 percent, a BJP candidate looked set to win in nearly half. Read More http://ift.tt/1iSD7Vj