By Krishn Kaushik, Praveen Paramasivam and YP Rajesh
KAIRANA/CHENNAI, India (Reuters) – India began voting in the world’s biggest elections on Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a historic third term on the back of growth, welfare, personal popularity and Hindu nationalism.
The vote pits Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against an alliance of two dozen opposition parties who are challenging him with promises of more affirmative action, more aid and what they say is the need to save democratic institutions from Modi’s dictatorial government.
The mammoth exercise involving nearly a billion voters will be split into seven phases in the world’s most populous country in the height of summer. It will end on June 1 and votes will be counted on June 4.
In the largest of seven phases, 166 million voters in 102 constituencies in 21 states and territories will vote on Friday, including Tamil Nadu in the south, Arunachal Pradesh on the Himalayan border with China and the more populous Uttar Pradesh in the north .
Voters began lining up outside polling stations well before they opened at 7am (0130 GMT) amid tight security, including elderly people who needed help getting to the polls.
“Modi will come back to power, because apart from the religious push, his other work, including on security, is good,” said Abdul Sattar, 32, a Muslim voter from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, about 100 km (62 miles) away ( 60 miles) from Delhi.
Mohammed Shabbir, a 60-year-old driver and father of eight, said unemployment is the main problem for him as none of his children have regular jobs.
Hindu nationalism is not an issue in this election, “because Hindus also suffer from lack of jobs,” he said.
Polls suggest the BJP will easily win a majority even as voters have serious concerns about unemployment, inflation and rural distress in the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with the spotlight on whether the BJP can improve his 2019 victory and to what extent.
“Over the next five years, we will move our nation into the world’s top three economies, launch a final and decisive assault on poverty, open up new avenues of growth… unveil the next generation of reforms, and take a series of decisions and actions pro-people actions,” Modi wrote in the BJP election manifesto.
The BJP’s manifesto and campaign theme is titled “Modi Ki Guarantee” or Modi’s guarantee to keep promises made to voters, underlining the unusual leader-centric, presidential-style approach in a parliamentary system.
“I urge all those who vote… to exercise their right to vote in record numbers,” Modi posted on X, minutes before voting began.
“I especially urge young people and first-time voters to vote in large numbers. After all, every vote counts and every voice counts,” he said.
WEAK, FRAGMENTED OPPOSITION
If he wins, Modi would be the second Indian prime minister to be elected three times in a row, after post-independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru.
Modi says his first two terms were starters and the main course will be served in the third term. BJP billboards in towns and cities highlight a series of achievements in its two terms, including India’s historic landing on the Moon’s south pole and fighting corruption to woo voters.
Hindu nationalism is a key theme. Modi’s government and the BJP are accused by critics of discriminating against or targeting India’s 200 million Muslim minority to please their extremist Hindu base, charges both of which they deny. Sporadic violence continues to erupt between Hindus and Muslims.
The opposition INDIA alliance says the elections are an ideological battle fought to stop the BJP from ending the constitutional and democratic system.
Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition Congress party, said the BJP always tries to divert attention from important issues such as unemployment and rising prices.
“Sometimes the Prime Minister goes underwater in the ocean and sometimes he is on a seaplane but he doesn’t talk about issues,” Gandhi said, referring to Modi’s widely publicized pledges in recent months.
While the alliance has struggled to build unity and field common candidates against the BJP, it has accused the government of denying it a level playing field by arresting opposition leaders in corruption cases and making huge tax demands ahead of the vote – charges the government denies .
Chandrachur Singh, who teaches politics at Delhi’s Hindu College, says the BJP has a clear advantage but also faces real challenges.
“It’s not an election where there are no problems,” he said. “There are issues that could have led to a power struggle. But this is something that is not being channeled or harnessed by a fragmented, divided and weak opposition.”
“This is what is causing a kind of disillusionment among voters and is allowing the BJP to advance.”