By Christopher Specht ‘19Last year, Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Hindu nationalist party, was elected Prime Minister of India amidst a wave of popularity. Modi’s victory in the 2014 general election was crushing, as his promises of modernization, rapid development, and defense of conservative social and cultural values had propelled him to the head of the emerging power’s government. His unrivaled popularity had many wondering just how long he could keep up his “aura of invincibility”.An election earlier this month in the Indian State of Bihar seems to suggest that Modi’s popularity has peaked. An alliance of Modi’s rival parties gained 178 out of 243 seats in the Bihar legislative assembly, while Modi’s BJP gained only 58. While this doesn’t cripple Modi nationally, it does serve as a wake-up call, and possibly a sign of things to come. The election results will energize the opposition and could potentially hinder Modi’s plans for broad economic reform. Modi’s BJP has lost two straight state elections, in Bihar this month and in Delhi earlier this year. It appears that for Modi, both popularity and time are running out.The Bihar elections, however, are symptoms of a larger problem. In recent months, Modi has had to face increasing criticism for not properly responding to BJP members who have made inflammatory statements about Muslims. The party has historically used divisive rhetoric in tandem with euphoric promises of reform to gain support in elections; such tactics appear to have caused Modi’s election woes. Modi’s credibility internationally is under threat, since the world is questioning if he will win a second term as Prime Minister. In short, Modi and the BJP will need to rethink their strategy and begin to deliver on their promises if they want to restore their image and political power, both nationally and abroad.Sources:http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2015/11/08/5-takeaways-from-the-bihar-election-results/http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/08/indias-modi-faces-demoralizing-defeat-in-bihar-state-election.htmlhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/state-election-in-india-delivers-a-sigificant-blow-to-modis-popularity/2015/11/08/5006aa0c-859a-11e5-8bd2-680fff868306_story.html