Long elections begin in India; PM Modi is favorite

Haridwar. India began six-week elections this Friday with all favoritism for nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the face of a weakened opposition relegated to the background.

Almost 970 million people can vote in the largest elections in the world, an astonishing logistical exercise in the nation that recently overtook China as the most populous on the planet.

Voting to renew the 543 members of the Lower House takes place in seven stages until June 1. The count will take place on the 4th of that month and the results must be known that same day.

In one of the constituencies voting this Friday, AFP journalists observed that the authorities admitted the first voters in the Hindu holy city of Haridwar, in the north, on the banks of the Ganges.

Coinciding with the opening of schools, Modi asked voters to “exercise their right to vote in record numbers.” “Every vote counts and every voice matters,” he said on the social network X.

The 73-year-old prime minister enjoys strong popularity after a decade in office during which India has emerged as an economic power and increased its diplomatic influence.

His tenure has also been characterized by an attempt to align government policy with the country’s majority faith, Hinduism.

His predicament among the Hindu faithful brought resounding victories to his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 and 2019 elections.

Although India is constitutionally secular, the country’s 220 million Muslims and other minorities feel threatened by Hindu nationalist fervor.

An example of this policy was Modi’s attendance this year at the inauguration of a large temple to the Hindu god Ram built on the remains of a historic mosque destroyed by Hindu fanatics.

“The nation is creating the genesis of a new history,” Modi told the thousands of attendees at that ceremony, televised throughout the country and featuring stars of sports and cinema.

“Pattern of repression”

Analysts predict a clear victory for Modi against a fractured alliance of more than two dozen parties that has not yet named a candidate for prime minister.

His chances have increased with several criminal cases against his rivals and a tax investigation this year that left the bank accounts of Congress, India’s largest opposition party, frozen.

Opposition leaders and human rights organizations accuse the Modi government of having orchestrated these cases to weaken rivals.

“We don’t have money to campaign, we can’t support our candidates,” Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress Party, told reporters in March.

In a message on the X platform, this formation called on citizens to “end inflation, unemployment, hatred and injustice” with their vote.

But the message of this party and its leader – son, grandson and great-grandson of prime ministers – does not seem to resonate with the population, which seems aimed at granting a third term to Modi.

Although opinion polls are rare in India, a Pew survey last year found that nearly 80 percent of the population has a favorable opinion of the prime minister.

Diplomatic courtship

Under his leadership, India has surpassed the former colonial power, the United Kingdom, as the fifth economic power in the world.

In addition, the South Asian giant is courted by Western nations as a possible diplomatic and economic ally against China, its regional rival.

In this approach they have often ignored the increasing restrictions on the press and civil rights that have led groups such as Amnesty International to reduce their operations in the country.

Modi’s tenure has seen “a pattern of repression to undermine democracy and civic space,” rights group Civicus said in a Wednesday report.

The opposition, grouped into an electoral bloc to try to defeat the BJP, has accused it of using government agencies to attack rivals and undermine its campaign.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested last month and remains in custody over allegations that his party received bribes in exchange for alcohol licenses.

And Rahul Gandhi, heir to India’s most famous political dynasty, was briefly disqualified from Parliament last year over a defamation conviction.