Written by Dhanya Skariachan, Chris Thomas, Nikunj Ohri
BENGALURU/KOTTAYAM/MATURA, India (Reuters) – India began voting on Friday for the second phase of the world’s biggest election for prime minister. narendra modi And his rivals are ramping up their campaigns by focusing on hot-button issues like religious discrimination, affirmative action and taxes.
About one billion people are eligible to vote in the seven-phase general election, which begins on April 19 and ends on June 1, with votes scheduled to be counted on June 4.
Prime Minister Modi is seeking a record third consecutive term on the back of his economic performance, welfare policies, national pride, Hindu nationalism and personal popularity. Polls suggest he will win a comfortable majority.
His challengers have formed a coalition of more than 20 parties, promising expanded affirmative action, more benefits and an end to what they call Mr. Modi’s authoritarian rule. There is.
Friday’s vote will take place in 88 of the 543 seats in the House of Representatives, where 160 million people are eligible to vote. It will span 13 states and union territories of the world’s most populous country.
More than half of the 88 seats are in the southern states of Kerala and Karnataka, and in the northwestern state of Rajasthan.
With Mr. Modi and the main opposition Congress party at odds over communal issues, the campaign has changed direction from the first stage and is heating up, with Mr. Modi aiming to give preferential treatment to minority Muslims and dilute the effects of affirmative action. He has accused Congress of planning to impose an inheritance tax.
Late on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi wrote in a post on X: “The Congress, which was once agitating in the name of the Constitution, has now been exposed badly for its hidden agenda.”
The Congress denies the charges, saying Mr. Modi is distracting voters from real issues such as unemployment, rising prices, rural distress and fear of loss.
Rahul Gandhi in conflict
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a video message on the eve of the vote: “We have spoken to you, heard what you are thinking and have drafted a revolutionary manifesto.” “This was drafted by the National Congress Party, but it is your voice.”
Mr Gandhi, a former Congress president and the face of the party, is among the 1,200 candidates in Friday’s fray.
He is seeking re-election from Wayanad state in Kerala, where he will face the likes of Annie Raja of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and K. Surendran of the BJP in the Left Front-ruled state.
In 2019, Gandhi defeated the CPI candidate by more than 400,000 votes, his highest margin in Kerala, but lost two seats to the BJP in the Amethi family stronghold in northern India. In India, a candidate is allowed to contest from multiple seats, but if she wins from multiple seats, she can only retain one seat.
After losing power to the BJP in 2014, the Congress slumped to a historic low, but in 2019 it won the second-lowest number of seats, 52, while Kerala won the highest number of seats, 15.
The party, which won only one of the 28 seats in 2019, gained momentum after defeating the BJP in last year’s state elections and is expected to do better in Karnataka as well.
Nationwide, the party is seen as still struggling, with bickering within the opposition coalition led by the party and graft scandals against some of its leaders hindering its bid to challenge Prime Minister Modi.
Election commissions and political parties are concerned about voter turnout due to the summer heat and wedding season in some parts of the country, with turnout in the first phase dropping to around 65% from nearly 70% in 2019. decreased.
Since then, polling committees have stepped up their calls for voters to “vote responsibly and with pride.”
(Reprinted by Dhanya Skariachan in Bangalore, Chris Thomas in Kottayam and Nikunj Ohri in Mathura; written by YP Rajesh; edited by Stephen Coates)