On Saturday, May 25th, the sixth phase of India’s 2024 general election began, marking the penultimate round of voting. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are seeking a third 5-year term in office.
According to reports from the Associated Press, long queues of voters formed in front of polling stations as early as 7 am to avoid the scorching heat, with temperatures in the capital city of New Delhi reaching 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in the afternoon.
On May 25th, voters in 58 constituencies across India, including 7 in New Delhi, cast their votes to fill 486 out of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament. The remaining 57 seats will go to polls on June 1st, concluding the six-week-long election process, with vote counting scheduled for June 4th.
Opposition leader Sonia Gandhi of the Indian National Congress (INC) and her son Rahul Gandhi also participated in the voting process in New Delhi.
In a separate incident, former Chief Minister of Indian-administered Kashmir and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti staged a protest claiming that police had detained dozens of her party workers, preventing them from voting. She has lodged a complaint with election officials regarding the matter.
The 2024 general election is seen as one of the most consequential elections in Indian history, testing Modi’s political dominance. If successful, he would become the second Indian leader after Jawaharlal Nehru to win a third consecutive term as Prime Minister.
Despite lower-than-expected voter turnout in the previous five phases, election authorities are taking measures to ensure suitable voting conditions, such as providing fans, tents, and drinking water at polling stations.
Most opinion polls predict a victory for Modi’s BJP, with the party’s main competition coming from the broad opposition alliance led by the INC and powerful regional parties.
Modi and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi have engaged in a fierce competition, with the latter being a descendant of the Nehru-Gandhi family, which has produced three Prime Ministers.
Political analyst Rasheed Kidwai stated, “At the start of the voting, it felt like a one-horse race with Modi leading. But now we are witnessing some kind of shift. The opposition’s performance has exceeded expectations, partly due to Modi intensifying anti-Muslim rhetoric to polarize voters.”
Kidwai noted that the opposition is challenging Modi by focusing on issues of social justice and rising unemployment, making the competition more intense than anticipated.
Modi has pledged initiatives such as charity programs, free healthcare, providing household toilets, and helping women access free or subsidized cooking gas cylinders to assist the most impoverished.
Following lower-than-expected voter turnout in the first round of elections, Modi shifted his campaign strategy to accuse the INC of playing the minority Muslim card, stoking his Hindu nationalist base.
Out of India’s population of over 1.4 billion, Hindus comprise 80% while Muslims make up nearly 14%.
New Delhi voter Manish Bhatia expressed, “Political agendas based on caste and religion are dangerous for the nation; voting should be based on a candidate’s performance.”
With nearly 970 million eligible voters – more than 10% of the global population – India is currently electing 543 members to the Lok Sabha for a five-year term.
This year’s voter turnout has been lower than expected. In the previous five phases, voter turnout ranged from 62.2% to 69.16%, averaging at 65.9%. In comparison, the voter turnout for the 2019 national election in India was 67.11%, reaching a historic high. Modi’s BJP secured 303 parliamentary seats in the 2019 election.
Modi assumed office in 2014, replacing the Congress party which had been in power since India’s independence in 1947.
Ahead of this election, there were internal disputes within the opposition alliance, but they later united, particularly after two opposition-controlled state chief ministers were jailed on corruption charges. Both have denied the allegations.
One of them, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has been released on bail and resumed his election campaign.
In March of this year, Gandhi embarked on a 6713-kilometer nationwide trek starting from the violence-prone state of Manipur in northeastern India to raise awareness among voters on issues like poverty, unemployment, and democracy.
Political analyst Kidwai noted, “This trek has enhanced Gandhi’s image as a serious politician, which has benefited the opposition’s campaign.”