Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday evening was met by a massive crowd of supporters as he walked to the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in New Delhi. He was felicitated by several leaders there, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

In an address to party workers, he said that elections are an integral part of a democracy and a landslide victory like this is a good sign. “Political pundits should pause to reflect after such a massive, unprecedented mandate... A new India is emerging.”

He said, “The poor seek opportunities, not sops. The more opportunities you give them, the more the country will shine. The middle-class bears much of the country’s burden and this needs to decrease.” He thanked all the state teams and party workers for their hard work.

Modi also acknowledged the five states that just had their elections, and thanked them for the mandate.

He said, “I said one thing in 2014 that was heavily misquoted. I had said we are human and can make mistakes. But we will not do any work with the wrong intentions... Whatever we do, we will be accountable to the people.” He said the party will work for those who have voted for BJP and those who have not. “We will not differentiate.”

Modi added that his mission is to strengthen the poor by 2022, adding that he does not calculate according to upcoming election dates. India will celebrate its 75th year of Independence in 2022.

Before Modi, BJP National President Amit Shah addressed party cadres and said that Modi is the most popular leader in the country since the country’s Independence and that the party had gotten a bigger mandate than it did in the 2014 Parliamentary elections. He said Modi’s policies had won them a massive mandate and that the party would not let down the people who have voted for them. “Because of demonetisation, the poor fully backed Modi.”

Shah added that the BJP wave will now travel to the eastern and southern parts of the country too.

The BJP swept the Uttar Pradesh elections on Saturday, and won a clear mandate in Uttarakhand too. The BJP also did well in Manipur and Goa, though the Congress have more seats there.

Earlier on Sunday, Modi had said “a new India is emerging” that “stands for development”. Ahead of Holi, the prime minister launched an initiative, #IAmNewIndia, on his Narendra Modi App asking people to “pledge to build a new India”. He said India was transforming empowered by the “strength and skills of 125 crore Indians”.

After the BJP’s massive victory in Uttar Pradesh, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had tweeted that other parties could forget about winning the Parliamentary elections in 2019. He also asked how almost all analysts had missed the BJP “tsunami” in Uttar Pradesh.

While some exit polls had predicted a BJP win in Uttar Pradesh, most had not. The party won a three-fourth majority in Uttar Pradesh, which has more Assembly seats than any other state in the country.

After their wins, speculation is rife about who will be chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. A party meeting is expected to be held later on Sunday to decide on names.