An Overview of India’s Elections

India will be holding the Lok Sabha elections from 19th April to 1st June. It started last Friday, and with almost one billion voters taking part, it will be the largest democratic election the world has ever seen. Due to the sheer size and logistics of the election, it will take place over seven stages.

Eventually, across all states and union territories, the general population will have elected representatives for 543 seats in the Lok Sabha- India’s lower chamber of parliament. The first stage has had citizens, from around 21 states and territories, elect 102 seats in the parliament.

The Indian government has vowed to make these elections as accessible as possible, promising a voting booth within 2 miles of every voter. Some 15 million officials will travel around the country to oversee votes, many travelling by foot or horseback to places otherwise inaccessible.

After a person has voted, they are marked on the finger with indelible ink to sort out who has and hasn’t voted. Such measures must be in place to fairly conduct a referendum involving 970 million people.

The government wants to make sure that although one billion people are voting, efforts will be made to ensure that every vote counts.

Even after months of preparation by the government for the India elections, violence has already been observed in the elections in Manipur on the first day of voting.

The Indian government spend around Rs 55,000 to 65,000 crore ($6.6 billion) during the 2019 elections. The 2024 number is set to dwarf this. Individual candidates for constituencies have been limited to a spending of $115,000 for their campaign. Read more about the costs of the election at The New India Express.

Parties Involved: Who is most likely to win?

Most forecasts predict the nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), the ruling party in India, to win the election. Some say that the win will be comfortable. Many opposition parties failed to compete with the BJP’s sheer power and popularity. They openly criticise the BJPs controversial domination of electoral bonds, giving them an unfair advantage in funding. Read about it here.

Narendra Modi, the extremely popular and influential leader of India, is seeking a third term. He came to power in the 2014 India elections, toppling the 20 year governing of the main opposition party Congress, and was the birth of the current formidability of the BJP party.

Many look back on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, in which Modi and BJPs domination was absolute. Many feel that this will happen again, as BJP remain unfazed even after a decade of dominion.

The ‘INDIA’ Coalition

As a result, BJP’s main opposition Indian National Congress has organised a coalition between all opposing parties to combat BJP during these elections. This is the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or ‘INDIA’ for short. Congress is led by Rahul Gandhi, son of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Other significant parties part of this coalition include the Aam Aadmi Party, led by Arvind Kejriwal, who is currently in prison for charges of money laundering, the Communist Party of India, led by Doraisamy Raja, and the National’s People Party, led by Conrad Sangma.

However, despite such a large alliance, attempts to match the BJP have been pushed back by internal division, corruption, and criminal activity. 3 AAP leaders were recently arrested, and accused of corruption. The party accused the BJP of conducting a political vendetta against it, which the BJP deny.

Campaign Goals

Narendra Modi, in his campaign, reminds Indian citizens of the recent rapid growth of India under his rule, growing to become the fifth largest economy in the world, overtaking countries such as the UK, France, and Russia. He wants to focus on heightening the power and influence of India over the rest of the world, building closer relations with the US, and eventually becoming a global superpower. Read more about why India is the fastest-growing economy here.

Modi recently introduced benevolent welfare schemes for the poorer population of India. He is giving monthly stipends to around 800 million people.

Indian National Congress, on the other hand, said in its manifesto that due to 1% of the population owning 40% of India’s wealth, unemployment rates remain excessively high, especially for the younger population. They have promised to change this. They promise to provide extra pay for women and disabled people, and grant millions of new government jobs.

Allegations

They claim that Modi’s rule has partially oppressed some minority groups (an allegation which the BJP denies) and want to push back against India’s ‘descent into electoral autocracy’ under Modi’s longstanding rule. With the increase in power and funding, the BJP has faced allegations from other parties regarding the increased harassment of those questioning BJP rulings. The BJP denies this.

The opposing coalition of parties seem to pick at everything the BJP does, claiming that an increased voting period allows for Modi, the currently face of India, to travel around and broaden the reach of his campaign.

However, Congress has also faced allegations from the BJP. Modi claims that Congress plans to redistribute people’s hard-earned wealth under the name of “a nation-wide socio-economic and caste census”, according to The Economic Times.

Congress promised to distribute wealth to poorer families, oppressed minorities, and families with more children. However, rather than providing direct government aid to such populations, Congress allegedly wants to re-distribute people’s hard-earned wealth. The BJP implies that this goes against the very nature of a capitalist society.

In summary, the 2024 India elections will be a major test for India’s democratic values and secular foundations. A decisive BJP victory would cement Modi as one of India’s most influential leaders, while a surprise opposition win could significantly reshape the country’s trajectory.

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Cover Image- The Sunday Guardian