these hindu nationalist b j p party claim significant gains in india's elections what could term number 2 hold i'm sorry kelly in berlin this is the day. i'm. sad that this election is not far by the majority. it's not fast by the hopefuls. it's not fought by politicians this election is being fought for the people of this country. thankfully you're going to call this into the country. what matters is that the people of it go to site it. could be privatised.

and also coming up on the day the end is in sight for a long legal challenge in kenya it's highest court poised to issue a ruling on whether to uphold or strike down a colonial era law on same sex relations. what does that mean it would mean that. would be free to be ourselves. and i hope we'll be able as a community in kenya as a community in kenya to be free to party with us i've got minority to give us who are still fighting. the party of india's prime minister narendra modi has declared victory and the country's election data released by the election commission shows that the hindu nationalist b j p is on course to increase its majority in parliament with a mandate of business friendly policies and a tough stand on national security mr modi was given a rousing welcome by b j p supporters at a rally in delhi in an earlier message on twitter the prime minister promised to

unite the country and build what he called a strong and india this after running what commentators have described as a divisive campaign. and after those results were announced correspondent sent us this is cess meant a victory. so this is what good. party is the. kind of research that have. made me sort of you cannot be done oh no no captain of the new prime minister i mean. this election might even consider it a referendum going to be able to move you and if you don't put out and if you look at the books that have more then it looks like that effort underway is an extremely

positive one it is likely that he has an even stronger voice on the parliament than they did the last time i don't know how i'm working. on this treat all that out of the bible. which i actually have pictures of prince you know to say thank you. thank you. for you of the best things and the congress that were in the national congress and the opposition has pretty much had to accept defeat as a very marginal gains of their beer it's not even choice to inform the leader of the opposition but a national mandate is b.s. you know we thought we'd actually gotten very nasty nationalistic johnson saying that they don't live modern india and even some hindu johns coming in i don't know but basically the country has spoken to not only want what you again but they want them again more than they did back in 2040 min to have decided another 5 years for crimes and in the movie. and that was our correspondent there in delhi let's get

more now we're joined by the casing he is an analyst with the center for strategic and international studies welcome to the program sir we've heard modi's say that he will build a strong and inclusive india do you buy it. well i think if the machinery wants a stable and secure india one of the things that he's certainly going to have to tackle is the issue of economic stability and the creation of jobs. and so that's going to have to be an inclusive vision. of a country where some have jobs and others don't so he's going to have to hearken back to the campaigning days of 21000 on the promise of good days some of which we actually didn't see that this time around in the campaigning the economic arguments for a 2nd term were kind of caused by the wayside and in favor of

a more nationalistic stance but he's going to have to go back to some of his reform agenda in order to build and deliver on the dreams that the people want which is the development and i'd like like to ask you more about that agenda but 1st we really just have to address the fact that i mean he has really run a very into 1st. you know platform and a lot of people have been saying that that is increasing social tension in the country what's your view. i think that is i think that's correct and that there has been like i said in stark contrast to the platform that he used last time there was a lot more of a hindu agenda this time around and certainly there are elements of the right wing that were involved and as a result. the majority of that the b j p one last time and will certainly be emboldened again so that is there are trouble it's troubling to see that there has

been a lot of division created in the lead up to these elections and one would hope that now that the elections are done that they can get back to more of a development agenda maybe that's the message and we're seeing coming out of the prime minister he has been seen as a champion of the poor you mentioned you know these proport policies that that he's been running on including free medical insurance relief for distressed farmers but you know if we look at back at his track record so far how is he on helping the poor. yes so in terms of what helps the poor so here at the center for strategic and international studies of the one chair in the lead up to the last elections we actually convened a group of stakeholders to look at what were the 30 most important economic reforms that the modi government would have to undertake in order to unleash the economic growth in the country you know hundreds of millions out of poverty and create jobs one thing that can be said you know from the very objective standpoint is that the

movie administration actually only implemented 9 of those reforms and has 15 of them and you know various levels of progress but most of those reforms were actually not just in the 1st 2 years and he did undertake a lot of f.b.i. reforms which was bought a lot of money into the country in order to again create the business friendly environment that's required to create jobs and eradicate poverty but the question is can he now deliver on the rest of the economic reform agenda and we were hoping to add more to that list of 30 for his 2nd term he has had major national visions or missions if you will address things like health care through them or the care program energy access for all i mean for the 1st time since the history of the of the modern nation state nearly every household is connected to electricity thereby hopefully providing electrons for productive use and job creation so these have

been some big ticket items that have benefited the poor cooking gas is another another good example ultimately why do you think he's been so popular because i mean this is not the result that was expected in this election he wasn't expected to do this well. yeah yours truly is guilty as are many others that try to predict in terms of what his victory would look like i think most people thought that certainly he would come back thanks to support of a coalition that would win certainly because the opposition is just remains to remains uninspiring and we saw that as a result we saw that a number of the major. opposition candidates particularly the congress party did not win their seats and with a weak opposition. we knew that he would be likely to win but i think many did not predict that the b j p would get an even bigger mandate i mean it's you know they

don't even need their coalition partners to run the government. i think he has been quite successful. according to some analysts in sort of politicizing some level of identity politics i wouldn't say religion politics but certainly cost base politics in forging a new coalition that is going to be more difficult to manipulate by both major parties as well as regional parties and it's important to highlight that regional parties have played a big role in india's governance and sort of king making over the last several decades that seems to be on the decline let's talk a little bit more about the gandhi family now because we know that they are actually one of big losers in this election gandhi losing his seat and pradesh. you know what does this mean now for that dynasty. i think that one has to sort of face the music do some real enter introspection and one thought that they had been doing at you know post the previous election results

but clearly that hasn't played out and you know they did have major victories in state assembly elections last november which kind of gave them a new lease you know they could breathe a little bit easier by winning state assembly elections and rajastan in the in the heartland of mother for the asian and shut these guys but you know they they installed leaders there that maybe didn't resonate with the electorate maybe they were more part of the old guard and maybe it was seen as the dynasty family not choosing young fresh faces so there's there's some real questions that the party has to answer in terms of where its future really lies so much to chip away at in this election we thank you so much for giving us some perspective the casing from the center for strategic and international studies thank you. thank you. now voting has begun in elections for the european parliament to britain and the

netherlands where the 1st e.u. countries to go to the polls voters across the bloc will be casting their ballots until sunday germany is also taking part but its best known political leader chancellor angela merkel has been conspicuous by her absence from campaigning w.'s chief political editor mahela found out why. europe's most powerful woman also used to be the poster girl for her conservative c.d.u. party in e.u. elections but that is history this time angela merkel left the e p p's widely unknown top candidate manfully to be mostly out alone to face the public and it was merkel successor c.d.u. carty leader and a great come canberra many already see as potential next chancellor who took on the heavy political lifting in the talks. in search of for us conservatives right wing populists are not potential coalition partners we don't want to and we won't work

with them. with nothing less than the future of europe at stake this raises the question where was. busy governing is the sort of answer within easy you summit in romania a climate dialogue in berlin and a trip to africa merkel focused on big picture politics. one of her few appearances with the e.p. peace top candidate monthly vivo was in croatia but she took a stance against nationalism. part 2 to small hatred chism and the e.u. aren't contradictions nationalism is the enemy of the european project we must make that clear in these final days ahead of the polls. and social democrat top candidate tells us merkel's absence is also a symptom of in a party divisions think it's honest that you have the european candidates on the

in the campaign and not the national figures on the other hand you see that the conservatives really split europe's longest serving m.e.p. . insists there was simply a division of labor from chancellor and party leader share responsibility for the results no ducking away. and america and an agreed convo know that their current division of power between the chancery and the party headquarters can't last forever so publicly both say they are determined to continue until 2021 when merkel's final term as chancellor officially ends these e.u. elections will tell us more about the chances of an exhibit come to also succeed. here in the chancery than about the stability of the current merkel led government itself but they're an important test for both. and let's get more now on that task

we're joined here in the studio by the berlin correspondent for the economist ben dalene welcome to the program. why do you think meryl is seemingly sitting this one out so i think it's and. number of reasons but but in some ways i think she wants to leave the stage who who's probably going to be her successor has been her success as head of the party mrs kind qabala and i think maybe she thinks it's good for you know not to play too dominant a row good form perhaps but i mean looking at the bigger picture here i mean there is so much at stake for europe in this election we have populous euro skeptic far right parties polling really well do you think that merkel is playing with fire. i'm not sure yes i think it's the most important election in the european union's history it is also the 2nd biggest democratic exercise in the wood off the india's election which is which is interesting just in terms of the shia number of voters

100000000 voters participating so it is hugely important in the european parliament has gained in importance in the in the sink years. would muckle make such a different if she were more active at the moment yes she's still very popular but i think people want a new generation to take center stage so i think it's probably not such a big deal ok we have to talk about britain because they kicked off voting today. there we can really see big gains for nigel perot for rajan his pro brags it policy how do you see that influencing the dynamic in the european parliament we don't have results yet but neither fractious is forecast to do well and it shows one thing is that the supporters of practice have not really changed their minds myself . as an opponent of frank so i was obviously hoping that after 2 years more than 2 years people would change their mind that's not the case and so it's reflected in the results and if he's not going to win to come in 1st he's likely to do quite

well with his new party you mentioned that this is the most important election that we've ever seen do you see any potential surprises here i think the thing with which people haven't focused on the off. talk a lot about the rise of populist party but i think it's a general fragmentation we've seen the rise of the demise of not the demise of let's say the the weakening of the old monolithic parties of the ones under the umbrella of the e.p. piece of the center right or the s. and d. the center left these 2 big blocks are weakening but you have also so you have the greens you have the populists you have the the radical left rising and i think that's going to change the dynamic of the european union and of the work is this going to become far more political with with more of a debate and maybe more interesting too it's been called the netflix's ation in fact of politics there's some sort of something for everyone you can pick and choose what you will would you agree with that assessment yes it's

a flippant assessment but there is some truth to it and surely i think we will see a much more complicated europe a much more fragmented one with centrifugal forces eating away at something that was basically dominated by these 2 blocs the if you p. and the s.d. european commission president we know that potentially a german could be at the helm do you think that that's what we'll see. not certain the e.v.p. is likely to be the strongest party still so the center right and of course manfred way but is is that candidate. so that would speak for him getting the job but i think it's not a done deal could you think the best candidate would be. difficult to say i think he's he's he's good he would be solid to have a real a tentative no it would basically play though into the argument of nigel farage for example who says the germans are running the show here in europe absolutely and in that sense it be better if in the stony and we have very strong kind of it being in

or you know another country that has not played such a big role in the e.u. i agree with that because it feeds into his rhetoric and. berlin parts on it for the economist thank you so much for joining us with that thanks for having me. well kenya is preparing for what could be a landmark ruling on the legality of same sex relations the country's highest court is due to reveal its decision on whether a log dating from the colonial era of banning gay sex is legal or unconstitutional now observers say that if the ban is struck down it could have a ripple effect across africa the expected ruling follows years of work and campaigning by. activists in kenya. the rainbow flag is a symbol of gay pride across the world but in kenya it's rarely seen flight. the national gay and lesbian human rights commission is one of the few places that

displeases proud and it's here that the fight to repeal an anti homosexuals law in kenya is being fought the law it is somewhat vague given it was taken from very very old laws which were previously formed from canon law so the law is very vague in its wording however what it intimate is that carnal knowledge against the order of nature that is same sex activities specifically between males is criminal and shall be punished with up to 14 years in prison. the kind of high court was expected to give a ruling on decriminalizing homosexuality in february but the judgment was pushed back. it's very tense as one would expect it to be we've been waiting for this for a long time and with the postponement in february where obviously really hopeful that the courts will read and judgment and of course it will be in our view. the l.g.b. to community is actually waiting the ruling and the public's reaction to it the

latter is a big unknown can public opinion on this issue is really anyone's guess and that's because here in this country conversations about homosexuality or the queer community don't happen openly and one person is saying that violence is part of the problem. that person is tevin what she wrote he hopes the upcoming court ruling will encourage constructive dialogue it could set a precedent for other countries that are going down the drain and i say should not . and i strongly believe it's the right thing to do and the right people can i ask him what it would mean to him personally if the courts ruled to repeal the law. what does it mean it would mean that. would be free to be yourselves. and i hope we'll be able to as a community in kenya as a community in kenya to be free to parity with us about minorities and with us who

are still fighting to be recognized. at the national gay and lesbian human rights commission they're preparing for it outcome and they probably still fighting if this friday doesn't and it's an appreciation. and i have the great pleasure now of being joined from nairobi by the activist that you just saw on there that he is kevin much hero kevin thank you so much for joining us 1st of all and we'd like to ask you because you know as we've heard same sex relations could soon be legal in kenya this has been a hard fought battle how are you feeling today. there are i'm sure. the 1st time i'm more hopeful than when their previous was for many in february i'm really hopeful that this will be good for the country. tell us a little bit more about what you do and what other activists have gone through

basically to get the country to this point. there's going to a lot of lobbying that has taken place with. the national really human rights commission. report there's been a lot of discussion. that has taken place. this is a discussion that we had within the movement about. this we thought it was impossible to find. our. own time. through. the way. to get to where we are. in years and i'm really really proud of the organizations that have.

come out of the. tell us because we heard in that report that basically this is really not an issue that is discussed in kenyan society when you've gone out there and you've been having these conversations quite openly what is the reaction that you have encountered i mean a you experiencing opposition are you experiencing silence or are you experiencing support. so you're born a war says ken yes the. national language is silence and in some cases we do get on our silence where light launches in $24.00 people who are for each were krishi and there are people who just went quiet obviously there is or position to it but i think people are afraid to come out. in support of the cubans when because there is that guilt by association unfortunately people

are afraid of that and. that is the biggest thing that as an anti business movement would all you want to highlight as you are now friends and i want my hands on my friends to come out in public which will send people there is that. thinking standing up for us and. i'm really hoping that the grief to. this is this is important this is important not just for us as a special minority who runs as a minority group but for the country we hope will also speak with us and as you we've mentioned earlier i mean it could be quite a big day coming up you know aside from that what more do you think still needs to be done. i think there's a lot more room for. their normal rules for educating people in a language that intrinsically. to explain identity and gender characteristics in a language that he's accountable. for me if we do go because if you truly and even

if we do all the other causes yours truly tomorrow is an opportunity for us to engage to go out all guns blazing and explain to people that and i mean the abuse your sexuality their genies are all the boys these are activists trying. to educate people more so our station identity sexual characteristics and social social differences should thank you so much for joining us with that perspective kevin watch joining us from kenya where as we have heard the country is preparing for what could be a landmark ruling on the legality of same sex relations we appreciate. the day is done i'm sorry kelly in berlin thanks for watching.

quadriga international. journalists discuss the topic of the week. in the making predicting a big search for far right parties in this weekend's election. well a video scandal in all strippers wanted people to think twice before voting for the . final push rega shortly. quadriga next on d w. it's

tightening its grip across the globe and the hunger for energy it's expected to double in the next 20 years. can be satisfied. with technology available. where we source news from. life comes sod. in 45 minutes on g.w. . if you ever have to cover up a murder the best way is to make up accidents raring to. never read a book like this or. does the term mr jermyn street. what

secrets lie behind the smallest. find out in an immersive experience and explore fascinating world cultural heritage sites. d w world heritage are 60 getting up now. well in a very warm welcome indeed supported riga coming to you from the heart of europe and all focus is on this weekend's have actions to the european parliament where it's has been widely assumed huge that populist far right parties might grab as many as a quarter of all the.