World’s biggest election exercise

Reports also suggest that while BJP’s recent Hindutva politicking has reinvigorated the party’s Hindu nationalist base

The world’s biggest democratic exercise is currently under way, as the first phase of general elections opened in India on Friday. With close to a billion people eligible to vote, the election is to be held in seven phases, ending on June 1, and counting is to be completed within a few days of the final polls closing.

Although a lot can happen in the six weeks before the last of the polls close, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is almost guaranteed to win a third term, although the BJP’s pre-election claim of being able to win 400 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha is still a massive exaggeration. Even with the mainstream media in the ruling BJP’s pocket, high unemployment, inflation and economic mismanagement have eroded support for Modi government among voters who understand that the party in power for a decade, rather than the opposition INDIA alliance, is to blame for these problems. Reports also suggest that while the BJP’s recent Hindutva politicking has reinvigorated the party’s Hindu nationalist base, these voters were never up for grabs, but independent voters who previously supported Modi because they believed he was better on the economy and foreign policy have been turned off by the extreme focus on religious and communal issues. Meanwhile, recent revelations around the BJP’s electoral bond money laundering scheme have also ripped at the heart of Modi and Co’s anti-corruption rhetoric.

But no matter how much the opposition tries to put on a united face and draws attention to Modi’s failure to ever talk about real issues, the BJP has largely maintained enough support to cruise to victory. Instead, the BJP has eliminated neutrality from the election commission, weaponised the tax department and arrested almost 150 opposition leaders on trumped-up charges. Meanwhile, western powers are silent because they are more concerned with access to the Indian market and the country’s role as a bulwark against China, rather than the state of Indian democracy. It is also why democracy activists are urging young Indians to vote with their hearts, because it might be the last time they get the chance.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2024.

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