AP PHOTOS: What’s on voters’ minds as India heads into a 6-week national election

NEW DELHI — Raj Sud, 94, has voted in almost every election held in independent India, witnessing the eventful journey of a diverse democracy, and now the world’s most populous, over the past 76 years.

Nearly 970 million people are eligible to vote in India’s six-week national elections, which begin on Friday, and the elderly housewife has a clear favorite in the race.

Most polls predict a victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party for a third consecutive five-year term.

“I really like Modi. Modi is working honestly. And he is doing a very good job and wants to make the whole country absolutely beautiful,” said Sud.

Modi is considered a champion of the country’s Hindu majority and has overseen rapid economic growth during his last two terms in office. But critics say he has also undermined India’s democracy and its status as a secular nation with attacks by Hindu nationalists on the country’s minorities and a shrinking space for dissent and press freedom.

Political parties have tried to divide voters, said financial consultant Dhiren Singh, 58, adding that “there will be a very subversive attempt to polarize them on the basis of multiple parameters.”

For the country’s 200 million young voters, concerns lie elsewhere. According to the Indian Economic Monitoring Center, the unemployment rate was over 7% in March.

“I am very aware of the need to find a stable job and will look at each party’s track record and plans in this area before deciding who to vote for,” said Manya Sachdev, 22, student and prime minister. voter of the time.

Another first-time voter, Ankita Jasra, said going abroad is “more attractive” for students and “the skill and all the talents that India has go to countries that are not ours”.

Many of New Delhi’s urban voters say corruption, lack of good governance and inflation are issues that need immediate attention, but the opposition has failed to address them effectively.

Divided by political rivalries and defections, an alliance of opposition parties has been further damaged by a series of arrests and corruption investigations into key leaders.

Ajay Jasra, 56, a service professional, said the opposition is “completely paralyzed” and “is not doing the opposition’s job.”

Others, like Niranjan Kapasi, blame the entire political class for “rigging the system, getting all the benefits with taxpayers’ money.”

“I am completely disillusioned with the way politics is, with the way they are fleecing us,” said the 89-year-old retired journalist.

One thing New Delhi voters, regardless of age and political leanings, agree on is the desire to clean up the political system and make it accountable.

Yoga instructor Ajay Sud, 63, said he would like to see more honesty and ethical behavior among politicians.

“I wish they were more polite. And less corrupt,” said Dhiren Singh, a financial consultant.

Kuldip Chadha, 82, said that despite fraud and corruption scandals, elections in a democracy are a matter of hope for future generations. “You want to see if your children, your grandchildren, they have a good way of living and how they can manage and how they can progress in an honest system.”