NEW DELHI – In the largest democratic election in history, India started tallying more than 640 million votes on Tuesday. It was generally anticipated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be re-elected to a third term following ten years in office.
Many viewed the six-week election as a vote on Modi. After Jawaharlal Nehru, the nation’s first prime minister, if the 73-year-old prevails, it will just be the second time an Indian leader has held onto office for a third term.
Major television networks’ exit polls on Saturday showed Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies winning handily over a wide opposition alliance headed by the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi, the party’s chief campaigner.
The previous performance of Indian television broadcasters in forecasting election outcomes has been inconsistent.
More over 10% of the world’s population, or close to 970 million individuals, may cast a ballot. Official data indicates that the average turnout for each of the seven phases was around 66%.
Before the Election Commission of India announces the final results, voting at counting centers in each of the 543 seats where ballots were held may continue into the evening.
However, clues will begin to surface sooner, providing insight into the potential direction of the outcomes.
Voters in India faced extreme heat, with several regions seeing temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). Election commissioner Rajiv Kumar stated that officials had gained important insight. He declared, “We ought to have finished the election at least one month earlier.” “It shouldn’t have gone on for as long with so much heat.”
Shortly after the counting started on Tuesday, BJP employees outside the party’s New Delhi headquarters carried out a Hindu rite. Concurrently, enthusiastic supporters at the Congress party headquarters screamed praises for Gandhi, the party’s campaign face.
India’s political environment has changed under Modi’s ten years in office. His popularity has eclipsed that of his party, causing a legislative election to resemble a presidential campaign in every way. As a result, even in state elections, local politicians are losing support to the BJP, which depends more and more on Modi’s durable brand to stay in power.
Public policy expert Yamini Aiyar claimed that Modi was not just the main candidate in this election but also the only one running for office.
His admirers regard him as a strong, self-made leader who has raised India’s profile internationally and attribute the country’s fifth-largest economy to his pro-business policies.
However, his ten years in office have also left the nation sharply divided. Opponents and critics of Modi claim that his Hindu-first policies have fostered bigotry, hate speech, and blatant attacks on the nation’s minorities, particularly Muslims, who make up 14% of the population.
Under Modi, the economy of India, which is among the fastest-growing, has became more uneven. Only a small percentage of Indians have benefited from the economic boom, while young unemployment has skyrocketed and stock markets hit all-time highs with an abundance of billionaires.
Critics of Modi claim that his administration has been using stronger measures to suppress dissent, stifle independent media, and tame political opponents, causing the nation’s democracy to deteriorate. The administration denies these charges, claiming that democracy is thriving.
A confident BJP first centered its campaign on “Modi’s guarantees,” emphasizing the welfare and economic accomplishments that, according to the party, have decreased poverty, when votes started in mid-April. “India will become a developed nation by 2047,” Modi declared often at rallies while in office.
However, as Modi increased his divisive rhetoric directed against the Muslim minority in an attempt to motivate his base of Hindu majority supporters, the campaign became more and more harsh.
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