GTA Indo-Canadians react as India's election results pour in

Indo-Canadians across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) kept a close watch on India's general election as results poured in, appearing to secure a rare third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governing party, but with fewer seats than anticipated.

For some in Canada's Indian diaspora, Modi's government has created stable economic conditions, but for others, his time in office has been largely marred by division and alleged interference. Modi declared victory on Tuesday evening, calling it "a historical feat in India's history." His party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), appeared likely to lose a significant number of seats, falling shy of an outright majority.

"This is actually a really shocking revelation and it really actually demonstrates the extent of misinformation in India," said Gurratan Singh, vice president at Toronto-based public relations firm Crestview Strategy and former NDP MPP for Brampton East.

"It's interesting to look at the fact [that] we are seeing, in many ways, a rejection of this extreme right-wing politic in India right now," he told CBC Toronto.

Singh said that many GTA residents, especially in Brampton, home to one of Canada's largest South Asian diasporas, were "very curious and attentively watching" for election results. 

Singh, whose brother is federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, said the added strain of India-Canada relations following the killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which sparked a wave of protests, has resulted in many rejecting Modi's government's politics.

"We know that Indian and Canadian relationships have been very strained recently ... and we know that Prime Minister Modi has said very anti-democratic and frankly shocking statements," Singh said.

"That's why we're seeing a degree of rejection of an individual prime minister who has used authoritarianism, has used right-wing extremism as his governing tools, and now we're seeing people reject that mandate," he said.

Last August, Ottawa paused trade negotiations with India, a month before Trudeau publicly accused India's government of involvement in Nijjar's killing.

The diplomatic strain continued into the fall as India forced Canada to remove two-thirds of its diplomats from the country, threatening to strip them of diplomatic immunity, and temporarily halted processing visas for Canadian visitors.

Modi will still govern with the support of allies, and according to the Canadian Hindu Chamber of Commerce (CHCC), a Toronto-based not-for-profit organization that represents Canadian Hindus, that's a big win.

"The people, they decided to give Narendra Modi his third term ... the people have spoken up and it's a great display of democracy in India," CHCC president Kushagr Dutt Sharma said.

Since Modi took office in 2014, foreign domestic investment has jumped significantly, he said.

"I think India is a good place to do business under the current government and they've brought a lot of stability over the last 10 years," he said, citing that the Canada Pension Plan announced in March it would be investing $300 million in India's National Highways Infra Trust, which makes capital investments in maintaining and expanding the country's highway network.