Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party showed a comfortable lead on Tuesday, according to early figures reported by India’s Election Commission, but faced a stronger-than-expected challenge from the opposition.
The counting of more than 640 million votes cast over the past six weeks in the world’s largest democratic exercise was expected to take all day, and Modi was expected to be elected to a third five-year term when the result was announced. final.
If Modi, 73, wins, it would be only the second time an Indian leader has retained power for a third term after Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first prime minister.
About four hours after the count, the first clues reported by the Election Commission showed that Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party was comfortably ahead of the main opposition Congress party.
The Preliminary figures showed the BJP leading in 240 constituencies out of 542. and winning an unopposed race. The Congress was leading in 94 constituencies.
Modi’s National Democratic Alliance group was leading in 287 constituencies, while the opposition INDIA alliance, led by the Congress Party and its main campaign leader, Rahul Gandhi, was leading in 225.
The Electoral Commission does not publish data on the percentage of votes counted, but counting would continue throughout the day and early figures were expected to change.
Exit polls over the weekend had projected the NDA to win more than 350 seats. Indian markets, which had hit an all-time high on Monday, fell sharply in mid-day trade on Tuesday, with benchmark stock indices, the NIFTY 50 and the BSE Sensex, both down more than 7%.
Some 642 million people voted in the elections, with an average participation of 66% in the seven phasesaccording to official data.
Extreme heat hit India as voters went to the polls, with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said officials had learned a valuable lesson. “We should have completed the elections at least a month earlier,” he said. “We shouldn’t have let it continue to be so hot.”
Temperatures were somewhat cooler Tuesday during counting, but election officials and political parties still took precautions, carrying large amounts of water for people outside vote-counting buildings and party headquarters.
On Tuesday, BJP workers outside the party office in New Delhi performed a Hindu ritual shortly after counting began. Meanwhile, supporters at the Congress Party headquarters appeared optimistic and chanted slogans praising Gandhi, the face of the party’s campaign.
In his 10 years in power, Modi has transformed India’s political landscape. His popularity has surpassed that of his party, turning a parliamentary election into one that increasingly resembles a presidential-style campaign. The result is that the BJP is increasingly reliant on Modi’s enduring brand to stay in power, with local politicians taking a backseat even in state elections.
“Modi was not just the main activist, but the only activist in this election,” said Yamini Aiyar, a public policy scholar.
His supporters see him as a strong, self-made leader who has improved India’s standing in the world, and credit his pro-business policies with making the economy the fifth largest in the world.
But a decade of his leadership has also left the country deeply divided. Modi’s critics and opponents say his policy of prioritizing Hindus has led to intolerance, hate speech and outright attacks against the country’s minorities, especially Muslims, who make up 14% of the population.
India’s economy, one of the fastest growing, has become more unequal under the Modi government. While stock markets reach record levels and millionaires multiply, youth unemployment has skyrocketed and only a small portion of Indians benefit from the economic boom.
The country’s democracy, Modi’s critics say, is faltering under his government, which has increasingly used heavy-handed tactics to subdue political opponents, pressure independent media and stifle dissent. The government has rejected such accusations and says democracy is flourishing.
When polls opened in mid-April, a confident BJP initially focused its campaign on “Modi guarantees,” highlighting economic and welfare achievements that its party says have reduced poverty. With him at the helm, “India will become a developed nation in 2047,” Modi repeated at rally after rally.
But the campaign became increasingly strident, as Modi escalated polarizing rhetoric aimed at the Muslim minority, a tactic seen as energizing his core Hindu-majority voters.
His opposition, the INDIA alliance led by the Congress Party, has attacked Modi for his Hindu nationalist politics. He hopes to benefit from simmering economic discontent and his campaign has focused on issues of unemployment, inflation and inequality.
But the broad alliance of more than a dozen political parties has been beset by ideological differences and defections, raising questions about its effectiveness. Meanwhile, the alliance has also claimed that they have been unfairly targeted, pointing to a series of raids, arrests and corruption investigations against their leaders by federal agencies that they say are politically motivated. The government has denied it.
Another victory would cement Modi as one of the country’s most popular and important leaders. It would come after a resounding victory in 2019, when the BJP won 303 of 543 parliamentary seats.
(with information from AP)
