In the world’s largest election, 968 million of India’s 1.4 billion people are eligible to vote. The elections will last until June 1, and the counting of votes will take place on June 4.
“I call on all voters (..) to exercise their right to vote in record numbers. Every vote will be counted and every vote counts!” Modi wrote “X” on social media before the elections began.
Modi, 73, is wildly popular after 10 years in power as India’s diplomatic prominence and economic power grew and his government worked to mainstream Hinduism, India’s main religion, into politics.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People’s Party), led by Modi, won parliamentary elections in 2014 and 2019, largely due to Modi’s appeal to Hindus.
This year, Modi presided over the opening of a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Rama, built on the site of a destroyed Hindu mosque.
Analysts have long predicted another triumph for Modi, defeating a fractured opposition alliance of more than 20 parties that has yet to nominate a candidate for prime minister.
Modi’s prospects are also improving thanks to a series of criminal investigations into his political opponents and a tax probe that led to the freezing of the bank accounts of the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), this year.
Opposition parties and rights groups accuse the Modi government of pursuing these investigations to weaken political rivals.
“We have no money for campaigning, we cannot support our candidates,” senior INC leader Rahul Gandhi told reporters in March.
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2024-04-19 04:43:35