Indian PM votes in general election, trumpets national security

Modi again underlined his focus on combating terrorism

Millions of Indians voted in the third and largest phase of a staggered general election on Tuesday, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who cast his ballot in his home state of Gujarat and again underlined his focus on combating terrorism.

In all, 188 million Indians are eligible to vote in 117 constituencies on Tuesday, across 15 states and federally controlled territories. Voting in 303 parliament seats out of a total of 545 have been completed so far.

About 66 per cent of those eligible had voted by the end of the day’s voting, according to the interim figures from the election commission.

In Gujarat, Modi met his mother early in the morning and then rode in an open jeep past hundreds of onlookers to cast his vote shortly after 8 am.

“IED is a weapon of terrorism, and voter ID is a weapon of democracy,” he told reporters after voting, referring to improvised explosive devices and voter identification cards.

“I believe the voter ID is much more powerful than an IED.”

The general election, which has seven phases, began on April 11 and will end on May 19. Votes will be counted on May 23.

SECURITY FOCUS

On Monday, Modi addressed a rally in western Maharashtra state and mentioned the attacks on Sri Lankan hotels and churches on Easter Sunday that killed 321 people and wounded about 500. He said India’s security had been enhanced after his government came to power in 2014.

“Friends, remember what India’s situation was before 2014,” Modi said. “Weren’t there bombs going off in different corners of the country every other day?”

Verma said Modi’s references to the Sri Lankan attacks were a sign that the BJP would double down on the security issue for the remainder of the campaign, which the prime minister began as a front-runner amid escalated tension with Pakistan.

“I feel the BJP is hell-bent on running this campaign on national security,” Verma said. “Basically, if they bring up any other thing, they would be on difficult terrain, like on economic issues or on their performance.”

Modi sent warplanes to Pakistan in February in response to a suicide bomb attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir that killed at least 40 Indian paratroopers. The blast was claimed by a banned militant outfit.

Jayendra Singh, 44, a businessman in the Gujarat state’s capital, Gandhinagar, also voted early and said the economy, women’s safety and unemployment were major issues for him.

However, he disapproved of Modi talking up the air strike in Pakistan, which led to aerial clashes between the nuclear-armed rivals.

“There shouldn’t be any marketing of this,” Singh said.