India votes in a historic election that is dominated by Modi, jobs, and Hindu pride

Voting in the largest election in history began on Friday in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running for a record third term on the platform of growth, welfare, Hindu nationalism, and personal popularity.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is up against an alliance of twenty opposition parties in the poll, with the latter promising more subsidies and affirmative action while highlighting the need to preserve democratic institutions.

“Modi will return to power because, aside from the religious push, his other work is good in areas like safety and security,” Abdul Sattar, 32, a Muslim voter in Kairana, Uttar Pradesh, the state with the most population, said.

He was in the tight security line outside voting places, some of them even ahead of their 7 a.m. opening.

The first and biggest phase, which took place on Friday, encompasses 166 million voters in 102 seats spread over 21 states and territories, ranging from Tamil Nadu in the south to Arunachal Pradesh on the border of China’s Himalayas.

In the most populated country on earth, over a billion people are eligible to vote during the entire process, which runs through the height of summer until June 1. The results will be announced on June 4.

Even while voters in the world’s fastest-growing major economy are concerned about unemployment, inflation, and rural hardship, surveys indicate that the BJP will easily gain a majority.

Mohammed Shabbir was another Muslim voter in Kairana, which is situated around 60 miles (100 km) from the capital Delhi. His primary issue was unemployment.

The sixty-year-old father of eight, a driver, said that none of his kids held steady employment.

He remarked, “Even the Hindus are affected by a lack of jobs,” adding that, in the country where Hindus predominate, it outweighs Hindu nationalism as a political concern.

Particularly with Modi’s January dedication of a magnificent temple to the God-king Lord Ram on a location in the northern city of Ayodhya thought to be his birthplace, Hindu nationalism is a major electoral subject.

In an effort to appease their ardent Hindu supporters, critics accuse Modi’s administration and party of targeting India’s 200 million minority Muslims—a claim that both parties refute.

With 370 seats in parliament up from 303 in 2019, Modi is aiming for a two-thirds majority, which some believe might allow his party to enact significant constitutional reforms.

robust southern thrust

In one of the developed regions of India, Tamil Nadu, where the BJP is weak, voters were split on whether Modi’s aggressive campaigning this time will help his party.

“India is now peaceful, especially for Hindus,” S. Rajagopal, a three-wheel cab driver in Chennai, the state capital, said of Modi.

“The BJP may not boost its vote share in Tamil Nadu but nationwide, Modi will win hands down again.”

But 55-year-old V. Parasuraman, a construction industry worker, claimed the BJP had not done much for Tamil Nadu.

“When Chennai was flooded, their leaders didn’t even visit this place. The intelligent people in this place will not be duped by Modi’s vacuous rhetoric.”

The commitment made by Modi to keep his word to people is the central focus of the BJP campaign.

Minutes before polls started, Modi wrote on X, saying, “I particularly call upon the young and first-time voters to vote in large numbers.” “After all, every vote counts and every voice matters.”

If Modi wins, he will become just the second Indian prime minister, after Jawaharlal Nehru, to be elected three times in a succession.

Potential for heat and violence

More urgently, given that India is expected to have more heat-wave days than usual this year, one issue is how the weather may impact election participation.

Certain areas, like the central state of Chhattisgarh, where security forces have killed 29 Maoist militants, are on the verge of violent unrest. Drones were utilized by the military to monitor rebel activities on Friday while they patrolled voting places.

Before the election, there was intermittent violence in several areas of the eastern state of West Bengal as members of the rival Trinamool Congress and the BJP in the region accused one another of attacking them.

However, some BJP officials and experts claim that the party needs to encourage people to cast ballots because it is concerned about voter weariness, complacency, or overconfidence among party members and supporters.

However, the INDIA coalition of the opposition has had difficulty uniting. It has charged that the government is impeding its activities by requesting exorbitant taxes before of the election and by detaining its leaders in graft cases. The government disputes these allegations.

Rahul Gandhi, the head of the main opposition Congress party, stated in a post on X that the election will determine the fate of Indian democracy.

“Strengthen democracy by applying the balm of your vote to the wounds inflicted on the soul of the nation in the last 10 years … defeat hatred,” he stated on Friday.