By David Asta Alares
New Delhi, Apr 19 (EFE).- With nearly one billion eligible voters set to engage in India’s monumental seven-phased general elections that began on Friday, the country, hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “the mother of democracy,” stands at a critical juncture.
The outcome will determine whether Modi secures a possible third term in a row or if the reins of power shift to an opposition coalition rallying to safeguard what they perceive as a “democracy in peril.”
As the electoral results unfold on June 4 following the seven-phase voting until June 1, the contest hinges on a clash of divergent views, each vying to shape India’s trajectory in the coming years.
One ideology, epitomized by Modi’s 10-year reign, sees itself as the sole force capable of propelling the nation toward becoming a developed country by 2047.
During the unveiling of his election manifesto, Modi urged the return of his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power.
“To ensure the welfare of citizens of ‘Maa Bharati’ (Mother India) and to realize the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India), the people of the nation must bolster the strength of the BJP,” he said.
Throughout the pre-election campaign, the BJP attacked the opposition coalition led by the historic Indian National Congress (INC), with Modi characterizing it as a grouping of “unstable, weak, corrupt and selfish leaders.”
For the populist leader, weakness is anathema. He returned to power in 2019 while his allies hailed him as an example of masculine prowess, the only one capable of bombing rival Pakistan in the volatile neighborhood.
Beneath the promises to “surprise the world” with infrastructure development and economic progress lies the BJP’s underlying Hindutva agenda, influenced by its ideologue, the extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The voluntary paramilitary group aims to transform India into a Hindu nation, with minorities like Muslims – 14.2 percent of the population – relegated to the margins.
While secularism finds scant defense in India’s Hindu-majority landscape, the opposition coalition, christened “INDIA,” says the election is a battle for the survival of democracy.
Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty and leader of the Congress party, cast the contest as one between defenders of democracy and those undermining it.
“On one side, Congress party, INDIA Alliance, are fighting to save democracy and constitution, and on the other side are Narendra Modi ji, (Gautam) Adani ji, the RSS, who are attacking the constitution,” said Gandhi.
Gandhi, the son, grandson, and great-grandson of India’s prime ministers, has highlighted the growing wealth disparity in India, benefiting a select group of elites, particularly a handful of businessmen like Adani, favored by the prime minister.
The World Inequality Lab’s report, released in March, underscored the skyrocketing rise in inequality during Modi’s decade-long tenure.
The wealth gap has been juxtaposed against touted economic growth, beset by growing unemployment and backbreaking inflation, with rates soaring to an alarming eight percent, according to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
The apprehensions regarding the death of democracy stem from Modi’s alleged authoritarian tendencies, manifested in his government’s crackdown on opposition and voices of dissent.
“The biggest festival of democracy is the elections. The election commission and the BJP are trying to murder democracy using the polls,” decried the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) in an April 9 statement, echoing sentiments of several opposition parties. EFE
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