The world’s most populous country prepares to go to the polls, with Narendra Modi’s BJP the frontrunner in vote that ends on 1 June
What is happening?
India, home to more than 1.4 billion people, will begin its mammoth election on 19 April. The country prides itself on the scale of its parliamentary elections, ensuring that even those in the remotest corners and highest peaks of the vast country are able to cast their vote. Voting machines in such less accessible parts are carried on the backs of horses and elephants and for some, polling booths can be reached only by boat. India also boasts the world’s highest polling booth, 15,256ft (4,650 metres) up in the Himalayan mountains.
Due to its colossal geography, voting is not on a single day but is instead split into seven phases across the different states, lasting nearly six weeks in toal. It will take place using electronic machines in more than a million polling booths, and the Election Commission of India will deploy 15 million people to oversee the operation. Voting will close on 1 June and results will finally be counted and declared on 4 June.
India’s elections are also some of the most expensive in the world. This year, the cost is expected to hit 1.2tn rupees (£12bn), which is almost double what was spent in the 2019 elections.
Why does it matter?
This time round India will have 969 million eligible voters – more than 10% of the world’s population. They represent the largest electorate anywhere and will include 18 million first-time voters.
More than 2,600 political parties are registered in this election. According to most analysts and political polling, the frontrunner is India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) which has been in power since 2014 and is seeking a third term.
The Hindu nationalist policies of Modi and the BJP government are widely seen to have reshaped the political and cultural landscape of the country over the past decade, shifting it away from the secularism enshrined in the constitution – which guarantees equality for all religions – and towards Hindu majoritarian rule.
As the world’s most populous country, with one of the fastest growing economies, the outcome of the election will also have an impact internationally. India has become an increasingly important partner for countries including the UK, the US and France, which have all recently signed deals and pursued closer relationships with Delhi as a counterbalance to China.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/18/india-mammoth-election-explained-narendra-modi-bjp