The specifics are unclear but the Modi sarkar will end in 2026. Nostradamus said so. The 16th century French seer, who is said to have predicted watershed moments from the assassination of US President John F Kennedy to the 9/11 attacks in New York, also had India on his mind.

In 1555, he apparently wrote:

From 2014 to 2026, a man will lead India, whom initially, people will hate but after that people will love him so much that he will be engaged in changing the country’s plight and direction. A middle aged superpower administrator will bring golden age not only in India but on the entire world. Under his leadership India will not only just become the Global Master, but many countries will also come into the shelter of India.

Scroll could not independently verify whether Nostradamus made these proclamations in his Latin texts, but Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister of State for Home, has access to a translated version.

On Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Arunachal Pradesh took to Facebook to lend some numerical backing to the central government.

Headlined "Amazing Facts", Rijiju showed how the number of seats occupied every major grouping in the 16th Lok Sabha adds up to 13: BJP (283: 2+8+2= 13); NDA (337: 3+3+7=13); UPA (58: 5+8=13).

While Rijiju's post did not elaborate on the significance of the number of 13, he went on to lend some prophetic heft to the current dispensation.

He used an old photograph of the 65-year-old Modi and German chancellor Angela Merkel with other officials seemingly to support Nostradamus' claim that many countries "would come into the shelter of India, the Global Master, under the leadership of a middle-aged superpower administrator."

Spurious translations of Nostradamus' work are commonplace, and some of them did the rounds on social media in the build-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. A Facebook post titled "Nostradmus and 2014 India elections" contained a "rough translation" of one of Nostradamus' Latin texts that spoke of the rise of "Politicus Bharatus Janatus Indicus" and the fall of "Congressus". The post was widely circulated before Modi's rise to power. However, the translation that Rijiju accessed did not have many takers on social media:

Is Nostradamus a Vedic Age approved fella? — ranjona banerji (@ranjona) March 18, 2016

Year 2017: Nostradamus Predicts Modi will conquers Britain to add another nation to Akhand Bharat. #FadingPunjab pic.twitter.com/ixkxbQCMrV — siona gogoi (@siona_gogoi) March 18, 2016

@AmanKayamHai looks like Kiren Rijiju's nephew used his mobile :P — भयंकर लोग (@BhayankarLog) March 18, 2016

@sanjayuvacha Not so sure of Nostradamus prediction but can surely predict Rijiju to get the cabinet rank soon. — Satish Kapur (@SatishKapur4) March 18, 2016

@amankayamhai Nostradamus, not Kiren Rijiju. But ‘middle-aged administrator’? OK, if he lives to 140 — Prasanto K Roy (@prasanto) March 18, 2016

Nostradamus predicted Modi sarkar 😂 Kiren Rijiju has reached a new level in bhakt-hood pic.twitter.com/M2ysIqZxmH — Karishma (@karishmau) March 18, 2016