After five weeks of parliamentary elections, held across India from April 7 to May 12, the Bharatiya Janata Party swept to formal victory May 16. Media reports indicate that the BJP is expected, along with its National Democratic Alliance partners, to take 543 of the obtainable seats in the legislature. A majority requires 272 seats. The bloc's victory will make the BJP's Narendra Modi the next prime minister. The results of India's parliamentary elections come at a critical time for New Delhi. While India deals with a slowing economy, the international community expects change. This leaves India's future government with the daunting task of generating economic reform while also securing Indian interests abroad. Modi is known domestically and internationally for eschewing the bureaucratic bottlenecks that have historically obstructed India's development, and he and his allies campaigned heavily on a platform of economic reform and revitalization.