The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modisaid this Saturday that he was confident of a third consecutive term after the polls closed in the country’s marathon six-week general elections.
“I can say with confidence that the people of India have voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government”Modi said in a post on social media platform X, referring to his ruling coalition, the National Democratic Alliance.
For a long time it was expected that Modi will win a third term when results are announced on Tuesday, largely due to his cultivated image as an aggressive defender of the majority faith of the India.
Exit polls are expected to give an initial indication of whether he has been successful later Saturday night, although they are historically unreliable in capturing trends in an election with 968 million eligible voters.
Modi himself he was sure he did, saying that he trusted that “The people of India have voted in record numbers” to re-elect his government.
They have seen our record and the way our work has brought about qualitative change in the lives of the poor, marginalized and oppressed. – he said in a post on the social media platform x.
Many in the electoral district of Varanasi of the prime minister, 73, who cast their votes on Saturday were excited by the prospect of his return to power.
“I voted for the growth and development of my country”he told AFP Brijesh Taksaliresident of Varanasiin front of an electoral college.
“I only know one leader…Narendra Modi. “I voted for him.”.
Varanasi It is the spiritual capital of the Hindu faith, where devotees from all over the world India They come to cremate their deceased loved ones by the river Ganges.
It was one of the last cities to vote in the grueling elections of the Indiaand where public support for the increasingly close alignment between religion and politics Modi burns more intensely.
Modi presided over the inauguration this year of a large temple dedicated to the deity RAMbuilt on the grounds of a centuries-old mosque in Ayodhya razed by Hindu fanatics in 1992.
The construction of the temple met a long-standing demand of Hindu activists and was widely celebrated across the country with back-to-back television coverage and street parties.
The ceremony, and many other demonstrations of fidelity to the majority religion of the India Over the past decade, they have made many of the country’s more than 200 million minority Muslim community increasingly uncomfortable about their future.
Modi himself made a series of strident comments about Muslims during the election campaign, referring to them as “infiltrators”.
He also accused the heterogeneous coalition of more than two dozen opposition parties who participated in the elections against him for conspiring to redistribute the wealth of the India among its Muslim citizens.
Janesar Akhtara Muslim clothing maker working in the famous embroidery workshops of Varanasitold AFP that the sectarian campaign of BJP was an unfortunate distraction from the chronic unemployment problems in the India.
“The workshops here are closing and the Modi government has been busy with the politics of temples and mosques”said the 44-year-old. “It is supposed to give us jobs and not tensions”.
Analysts had long expected that Modi triumph against the opposition alliance, which at no time named an agreed candidate for prime minister.
Their prospects have been further bolstered by several criminal investigations against the bloc’s leaders, which they say are orchestrated by the government of Modi.
Western democracies have largely sidestepped concerns about democratic rights and freedoms in hopes of cultivating an ally that can help check the growing assertiveness of Chinathe northern neighbor of the India and rival regional power.
The picture of Modi at home has been reinforced by the growing diplomatic and economic influence of the India: the country surpassed Britain as the world’s fifth largest economy in 2022.
“As an Indian, I think he has granted a lot of respect and prestige to India during his tenure”he told AFP Shikha Aggarwal40, while waiting to cast his vote.
People now look at India and Indians with much more respect, something that was not given before.
India voted in seven phases over six weeks to alleviate the immense logistical burden of organizing an election in the most populous country in the world.
Turnout has dropped several percentage points since the last national election in 2019, with analysts blaming widespread expectations of a victory for Modias well as the successive heat waves that burn the northern states of the India.
The authorities of the eastern state of Bihar They said Friday that 10 poll workers had died of heatstroke the day before while preparing to vote.
Extensive scientific research shows that climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense, and Asia It is warming faster than the global average.
A scorching sun fell on Varanasi and its many riverside temples and crematoriums during Saturday’s vote, with afternoon temperatures reaching a high of 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
“The last few days have been very hard”said the housewife Bindwasvini Deviwho voted shortly after the polls opened to combat the scorching temperatures.
“We have tried to stay hydrated and avoid going out as much as possible.”
(With information from AFP)
