NEW DELHI – India declared on Saturday that its six-week general election will begin on April 19, with most polls projecting a victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Voting in the world’s largest democracy will occur in seven phases, with different states voting at different times, and the results will be published on June 4. Over 970 million people, or more than 10% of the world’s population, will elect 543 members of the lower house of Parliament for five-year terms.
India Announces 6-Week General Elections Starting April 19 With Modi’s BJP Topping Surveys
Modi, who is running for a third term, has little opposition since the main opposition alliance, led by the Indian National Congress, appears to be fraying due to rivalries, political defections, and ideological disagreements.
According to analysts, the elections will likely confirm Modi’s status as one of India’s most enduring and influential leaders, having pushed to turn the country from a secular democracy to an avowedly Hindu nation.
Each election phase will span one day, with votes cast in many constituencies distributed across multiple states, strongly populated cities, and remote villages. The staggered polling method enables the government to deploy tens of thousands of troops to avoid riots and transport electoral workers and voting machines.
India uses a first-past-the-post multiparty electoral system, meaning the candidate with the most votes wins.
India Announces 6-Week General Elections Starting April 19 With Modi’s BJP Topping Surveys
Ahead of the election, Modi has been touring the country, inaugurating new projects, giving speeches, and connecting with people. Support for the leader skyrocketed after he opened a Hindu temple in northern Ayodhya in January, which many considered the unofficial start of his election campaign because it fulfilled his party’s long-standing Hindu nationalist commitment.
The 73-year-old Modi first rose to power in 2014 on promises of economic progress, portraying himself as an outsider cracking down on the political class. Since then, he has grown in popularity and combined religion and politics in a combination that has resonated strongly with the country’s majority Hindu population, even if it weakens India’s secular roots.
The elections come as India’s global power has grown under Modi, owing to its vast economy and, in part, to its position as a counterweight to a rising China.
India Announces 6-Week General Elections Starting April 19 With Modi’s BJP Topping Surveys
Critics claim that over a decade of Modi’s administration has seen increased unemployment even as the country’s economy has expanded, attacks by Hindu nationalists on the country’s minorities, particularly Muslims, and a narrowing space for dissent and free press. The opposition claims that a victory for Modi’s party could jeopardize India’s status as a secular, democratic country.
A victory for Modi’s BJP would build on its 2019 electoral triumph when it won an absolute majority with 303 parliamentary seats to the Congress party’s 52.
SOURce – (AP)
