NEW DELHI — Millions of Indians began voting Friday in the second round of multi-phase national elections as polarization grows and Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushes an assertive Hindu nationalist politics in his campaign.
People lined up outside the polling stations when voting opened at 7 am. Turnout was expected to increase as the day progressed.
The outcome of Friday’s vote in 88 constituencies in 13 states with 160 million voters will be crucial for Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, including some of its strongholds in states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. .
Most polls predict a victory for Modi and the BJP, which faces a broad opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress and powerful regional parties.
Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting for the second time from the Wayanad constituency in the southern state of Kerala after being defeated in the 2019 election by BJP leader Smriti Irani in the city of Amethi. , in northern India, a traditional stronghold of the Nehru-Gandhi family. .
Other key leaders in the second phase of voting include Congress Party’s Shashi Tharoor and BJP’s popular Bollywood star Hema Malini and actor Arun Govil, who had played the role of Hindus’ most revered Lord Ram in a 1987 television adaptation of the ancient epic Ramayana.
The BJP has already won a parliamentary seat in Surat, in the state of Gujarat, where the Congress Party candidate was disqualified on Monday. Election officials said they found discrepancies in the nomination signatures and other candidates withdrew from the race, leaving the BJP candidate as the winner.
Nearly 970 million voters (more than 10% of the world’s population) will elect 543 members of the lower house of Parliament for five years during staggered elections that run until June 1. Votes will be counted on June 4. There are a total of 28 states in India.
Turnout in the first phase of the April 19 election was estimated at around 62% of the 166.3 million eligible voters.
In comparison, the 2019 Indian national elections recorded the highest voter turnout (67.11%) in the history of Indian parliamentary elections. Turnout is expected to increase in five more rounds of voting.
Voter apathy has surprised some political analysts, but they say the BJP remains the favorite.
“You could argue that apathy is a consequence of a foregone conclusion,” said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, an Indian academic.
“But for Modi’s party, which hopes to win 400 of the 543 seats, a cheerful increase is missing,” he said in an article in the Indian Express newspaper.
Modi sparked widespread controversy over the weekend when he said the Congress Party, if it comes to power, would distribute the country’s wealth among “insiders” and “those who have more children,” in an apparent reference to the Muslim community. .
Hindus make up 80% of India’s 1.4 billion people, Muslims 14%, and Christians and Sikhs 2% each.
Congress Party leaders met election officials and urged them to investigate whether Modi’s comments violated the body’s code of conduct that prohibits politicians from appealing to voters based on caste and religious sentiments.
The BJP also filed a complaint against Congress Party leader Gandhi. He accused Gandhi of falsely claiming rising poverty in the nation and driving a wedge between north and south India based on language and region, with the aim of disrupting the electoral environment.
The electoral authority acknowledged the complaints on Thursday and asked the presidents of both parties to submit their responses by Monday. The authority is expected to give its ruling next week.
Critics of the prime minister, an avowed Hindu nationalist, say India’s tradition of diversity and secularism has come under attack since his Bharatiya Janata Party came to power a decade ago. They accuse the party of promoting religious intolerance and sometimes even violence. The party denies the allegation and says its policies benefit all Indians.