Indian elections: Narendra Modi votes as fears grow among the country’s Muslims | World News

Narendra Modi has cast his vote in the Indian general election amid growing anxiety among minority communities.

He Prime Minister voted at a school in Ahmedabad, in the western state of Gujarat, and called on “countrymen” to “vote in large numbers” as the third phase of the 44-day election begins.

Almost a 1 billion people are registered to votewith Modi running for a third term and hoping to win.

But the likely prospect of his victory may worry the country’s Muslims, who make up 14% of the population and feel under attack by right-wing mobs tacitly supported by the government.

Mr Modi fueled the debate in his campaign rally in Rajasthan last monthaccusing the opposition party Congress of pursuing a policy of appeasement over its suggestion of imposing an inheritance tax to redistribute wealth.

The leader went on the offensive, changing tactics in his campaign to attack the opposition for having a pro-Muslim bias.

He said: “When they were in power, they said that Muslims had the first claim on the wealth of the nation.

“This means that they will collect your wealth and distribute it to those who have many children. To insiders. Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to insiders?”

The crowd responded with chants of “no.”

Opposition parties have pressed ahead with issues such as high unemployment rates, inflation, crippling cost of living and alleged corruption of the last 10 years under the Modi government.

For a decade, the leader has dominated India’s political space; With a mix of powerful religious identity and nationalism, he has created the image of himself as the leader of the majority Hindu nation who has taken his rightful place.

Modi’s silence on the numerous cases of lynching of Muslim men for alleged beef trade and the demolition of houses belonging to Muslims has been deafening.

Read more: Sectarian violence between Hindus and Muslims increases

Dismissing these allegations, a spokesperson for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nalin Kohli, said: “Show me a plan by the Indian government under Prime Minister Modi that aims to deliver benefits to a person on the basis of his religion and denies another on the basis of religion.

“None. If you are poor, if you are a beneficiary, you will receive the benefits, whether you are Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist or Parsi.”

In an interview to the Times Network, Modi said: “We are not against Islam or Muslims.”

And he added: “The community must introspect. Think. The country is progressing.

“If your community feels deprived, what is the reason? Why didn’t you get the benefits of government schemes when Congress was in government?

“I am against the vote bank game, which is played on the basis of religion.”

Crucial phase

This phase, which is the third of seven, is significant for the BJP as it won over 80% of the constituencies in the same period during the previous 2019 general elections.

All 26 seats in Gujarat that the BJP won in 2014 and 2019 are up for grabs, and the party is confident of achieving a hat-trick.

In the states of Karnataka and Maharashtra, the party faces a tougher challenge as the Congress and its regional allies have gained ground.

Once today’s elections are over, 283 electoral districts out of a total of 543 will have voted.

Read more: Indian elections: Can anyone beat Narendra Modi?

The turnout of 66.14% and 66.71% in the first two phases, respectively, has been slightly lower than the corresponding phases five years ago, with analysts blaming the summer heat and the lack of a single strong theme that motivates voters.

Modi praised the first two phases for being violence-free and said “voting is a great gift.”

“I appeal to people to vote in large numbers,” he added. “Daan (charity) is very important in our country and in the same spirit, countrymen should vote as much as possible.”

But he has a lot to do to convince, especially minorities, that he is the prime minister of the 1.4 billion citizens.