Supporters of Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate for main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), shower confetti from atop a bus in Ahmedabad on May 15, 2014.

Early counting of results in India's general election put the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on course for a resounding victory.Early returns showed Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies leading in 208 parliamentary seats. The ruling Congress party alliance was ahead in just 70, according to NDTV news.Mr Modi was ahead in both of the constituencies he contested - in Vadodara in his home state of Gujarat and in the holy city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.If early trends are confirmed the BJP and its allies would win an absolute majority of more than 272 seats in the Lok Sabha, bearing out the findings of exit polls.Such an outcome would open the way for Mr Modi, 63, to become prime minister and act quickly to form the core of a new government.Betting on a Modi win, foreign investors have poured more than $16 billion into Indian stocks and bonds in the past six months and now hold over 22 per cent of Mumbai-listed equities - a stake estimated by Morgan Stanley at almost $280 billion.Since being named as his party's candidate last September, Mr Modi has flown 300,000 km and addressed 457 rallies in a slick, presidential-style campaign that has broken the mould of Indian politics.In his tech-savvy campaign, Mr Modi outclassed Rahul Gandhi , the 43-year-old frontman of the Congress campaign.Mr Modi's mantra of development has won over many voters skeptical about his Hindu-centric ideology and the communal riots in his home state in 2002 in which more than 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, died. He has denied any wrongdoing and a probe ordered by the Supreme Court has found he had no case to answer.Mr Modi has promised that, if elected, he would take decisive action to unblock stalled investments in power, road and rail projects to revive economic growth that has fallen to a decade low of below 5 per cent.

© Thomson Reuters 2014

Tax and labour market reforms, backed by a gradual opening up to foreign investment, would seek to create the 10 million jobs that Asia's third-largest economy must create every year to employ young people entering the workforce.