NEW DELHI (AP) — The world biggest election could also be one of the most important.
India has close to 970 million voters among its more than 1.4 billion inhabitants, and its general elections are opposed Prime Minister Narendra Modia confessor Hindu nationalistagainst a broad alliance of opposition parties struggling to catch up.
Now 73, Modi first came to power in 2014 with promises of economic development, presenting himself as an outsider in the fight against corruption. Since then, he has fused religion with politics in a formula that has drawn broad support from the country’s majority Hindu population.
India under Modi is a rising global power, but his rule has also been marked by rising unemployment, attacks by Hindu nationalists against minorities, especially Muslims, and a shrinking space for dissent and free media.
HOW DOES THE ELECTION WORK?
The last day of voting in the 6 week election It was Saturday. Vote counting will begin Tuesday and will be updated throughout the day. The election results will likely be known on the same day.
Voters choose 543 members for the lower house of Parliament for a five-year term.
Votes were cast at more than one million polling stations. Each of the seven voting phases lasted a single day, with multiple precincts in multiple states voting that day. Staggered voting allowed the government to transport poll workers and voting machines and deploy tens of thousands of soldiers to prevent violence. Candidates crisscrossed the country, election workers walked to remote villages and voters lined up for hours in sweltering heat.
India has a multi-party electoral system, in which the candidate who receives the most votes wins. To guarantee a majority, a party or coalition must surpass the 272-seat mark.
India uses electronic voting machines.
WHO’S RUNNING?
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and his main opponent, Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress, represent the two largest factions in Parliament. Several other important regional parties are part of an opposition bloc.
Opposition parties, that were previously fractured, united under a front called INDIA, or the National Alliance for India’s Inclusive Development, to deny Modi a third consecutive electoral victory.
The alliance has presented a single main candidate in most constituencies. But he has been troubled by ideological differences and personality conflicts, and has not yet decided on his candidate for prime minister.
Most exit poll projects Modi must extend his decade in power with a third consecutive term, especially after having inaugurated a Hindu temple in the north of the city of Ayodhya in January, who fulfilled his party’s mission long-standing Hindu nationalist commitment. During the Modi polls escalated polarizing rhetoric in incendiary speeches that targeted the country’s Muslim minority.
Another victory would cement Modi as one of the country’s most popular and important leaders. This would follow a resounding victory in 2019 when the BJP won an absolute majority by winning 303 parliamentary seats. The Congress party managed to win just 52 seats.
WHAT ARE THE BIG PROBLEMS?
For decades, India has stubbornly clung to its democratic convictions, largely due to free elections, an independent judiciary, a thriving media, a strong opposition and a peaceful transition of power. Some of these credentials have been eroded during Modi’s 10-year rule, with the polls seen as a test of the country’s democratic values.
Many watchdogs have now categorized India as a “hybrid regime” that is neither a full democracy nor a full autocracy.
The poll results will also test Modi’s limits. Critics accuse him of running on a platform that prioritizes Hinduism, putting the country’s secular roots at risk.
Under Modi, the media, once seen as vibrant and largely independent, they have become more flexible and critical voices muzzled.Courts have largely bowed to Modi’s will and gave favorable verdicts in crucial cases. The centralization of executive power has undermined India’s federalism. And federal agencies got bogged down main opposition leaders in cases of corruption, which they deny.
Another fundamental question is India’s big economywhich is among fastest growing in the world. It helped India emerge as a global power and a counterweight to China. But even as India’s growth has soared by some measures, the Modi government has struggled to generate enough jobs for India’s young people and has instead relied on welfare programs such as free food and housing to attract voters.
