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Saturday 21 Dec 2024
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
India has begun counting more than 640 million votes in a marathon exercise which is widely expected to return right-wing Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a third term. (Photo/Reuters)
India has begun counting more than 640 million votes in a marathon exercise which is widely expected to return right-wing Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a third term after a decade in power.
The six-week-long election was seen as a referendum on Modi.
If the 73-year-old wins, it will only be the second time an Indian leader has retained power for a third term after Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first prime minister.
Exit polls on Saturday by major television channels projected a comfortable win for Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] and its alliance called NDA over a broad opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A led by the Congress party and its main campaign leader, Rahul Gandhi.
Across seven phases
Nearly 970 million people, more than 10 percent of the world's population, were eligible to vote. Turnout was around 66 percent on average across the seven phases, according to official data.
The tallying of votes at counting centers in each of the 543 constituencies where polls were held could stretch in to the evening before a final result is declared by the Election Commission of India.
BJP-led alliance NDA was leading in majority 272 seats out of total 543 in early counting trends.
In his 10 years in power, Modi has transformed India's political landscape. His popularity has outstripped that of his party's, and has turned a parliamentary election into one that increasingly resembles a presidential-style campaign.
The result is that the BJP relies more and more on Modi's enduring brand to stay in power, with local politicians receding into the background even in state elections.
But a decade of his leadership has also left the country deeply divided. Modi's brand of politics has bred intolerance, hate speech, and brazen attacks against the country's minorities, especially Muslims, who comprise more than 14 percent of the population.
Ultra-nationalist politics
India's economy, one of the fastest-growing, has become more unequal under Modi. While stock markets reach record highs and millionaires multiply, youth unemployment has soared, with only a small portion of Indians benefitting from the economic boom.
As polls opened in mid-April, a confident BJP initially focused its campaign on "Modi’s guarantees," highlighting the economic and welfare achievements that his party says have reduced poverty. With him at the helm, "India will become a developed nation by 2047" Modi repeated in rally after rally.
His opposition, the I.N.D.I.A. grouping has attacked Modi over his ultra-nationalist politics. It focused on simmering economic discontent, and its campaign has rallied around issues of joblessness, inflation and inequality.
The alliance has also claimed they’ve been unfairly targeted, pointing to a spree of raids, arrests and investigations against their leaders by federal agencies they say are politically motivated. The government has denied this.
Another victory would cement Modi as one of the country's most popular and important leaders. It would follow a thumping win in 2019, when the BJP won 303 out of 543 parliamentary seats.
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Source: TRT
