General elections 2024 | Know the legacy of party symbols
Polls started Friday for the first and largest round of India’s marathon general election, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi vying for a remarkable third straight term.
Around 969 million people are eligible to vote in the largest election in human history, with polling taking place in seven stages over the next six weeks in the world’s most populous country.
The national election is considered one of the most important in decades, as Modi’s dominant right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeks an outright majority and a mandate to expand its economic and Hindu-nationalist policies developed during its 10-year dominance.
These policies have reshaped India economically and culturally, and the BJP’s administration has been marked by a shift away from India’s secular foundation and toward Hindu majoritarianism.
Under Modi’s leadership, the country of 1.4 billion people has emerged as the world’s fastest-growing major economy and a contemporary global powerhouse.
However, it has also been plagued by growing young unemployment and inequality, particularly in rural regions, and opponents claim Modi has fueled religious polarization, including increased Islamophobia and persecution of the country’s 230 million Muslims.
Nonetheless, Modi’s popularity is unprecedented for a two-term incumbent, and his rallies have routinely attracted tens of thousands of followers.
As polls opened on Friday, the leader sent a message to voters.
“I urge all those voting in these seats to exercise their franchise in record numbers,” he stated in a post on X. “I particularly encourage young and first-time voters to vote in huge numbers. After all, each vote counts, and every voice is important!”
Development and Democracy
The BJP’s campaign plan focuses on job creation, anti-poverty initiatives such as increasing food handouts and housing projects, and national development, with a special emphasis on women, the poor, farmers, and young people.
Modi aims to develop the country into a worldwide industrial powerhouse, complete enormous infrastructure upgrades, and attain energy independence by 2047.
On a global scale, Modi wants India to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, will bid for the 2036 Summer Olympics, and plans to place an astronaut on the moon.
The BJP has also promised to enact a unified civil code, which would replace a slew of religious and customary regulations with a single norm that everyone, regardless of faith, would have to observe. The BJP claims to defend women’s rights, but certain communities argue that it would infringe on their religious and cultural freedoms.
The Indian National Congress, India’s largest opposition party, and its newly created INDIA alliance of parties are challenging the BJP.
However, the once-dominant force in Indian politics has waned since Modi took office a decade ago. And the India coalition is already showing cracks, with defections and infighting.
The opposition coalition is counting on a coordinated effort to offset the BJP’s dominance over the last decade.
The Congress party’s campaign promises “freedom from fear” and pledges to uphold democratic ideals such as free speech, expression, and religious belief as enshrined in the constitution.
Its manifesto also stresses justice, equity, and welfare, vowing to recognize civil unions between LGBTQ+ couples, safeguard religious minorities, and empower women, among other commitments, such as apprenticeships for young graduates.
It directly addresses criticism from rights groups that the BJP is undermining democratic values by promising to restore media freedom, strengthen the autonomy of the Election Commission and other state agencies, and review laws passed by the BJP “without proper parliamentary scrutiny and debate.“
The Indian Election Commission has put limitations on media outlets, including CNN, that limit the dissemination of reporting and commentary leading up to and during election days.
Who is voting?
Voters are casting ballots for 543 seats in the lower house of parliament, or Lok Sabha, plus two seats appointed by the president.
The majority party will form a government and name one of its winning candidates as Prime Minister.
On Friday, voters from 21 states and union territories in India will vote online. Some states are so large that voting is stretched out over seven stages, while others vote in a single day.
Uttar Pradesh is one of the most politically significant states, with 240 million residents voting in all seven stages. India’s largest state is a key battlefield, with 80 Lok Sabha seats up for grabs.
The southern state of Tamil Nadu and its capital, Chennai, will also vote on Friday, with the regional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party and the INDIA coalition seeking to prevent the BJP from making inroads into an area of India where it has historically struggled to establish itself.
West Bengal, a state with 102 million inhabitants and 42 Lok Sabha seats, will vote in all seven phases beginning Friday.
The BJP has struggled to break into the state, which has long been dominated by the All India Trinamool Congress, led by political heavyweight Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Voters in Arunachal Pradesh, a northeastern state set in the Himalayan foothills, will also vote on Friday. The Election Commission published a video of workers going through jungles on horseback to reach a remote polling site.
In Meghalaya, also in the northeast, election workers carrying enormous boxes were videotaped trudging over lakes to reach voting stations.
The vast Indian Ocean archipelago of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, home to indigenous tribes from some of the world’s most isolated societies, will also vote on Friday.
The northeastern states, including Mizoram and Nagaland on the Myanmar border, as well as sections of Manipur, which has been rocked by ethnic strife in recent years, and the western state of Rajasthan, would also be affected.
The Indian Meteorological Department has projected heat wave conditions in certain of the polling districts on Friday, including areas of West Bengal and Puducherry. It also forecast heavy rain in regions of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
