Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his ballot Tuesday as India's multiphase general election hit the half-way mark after the Hindu nationalist leader mounted an increasingly shrill election campaign, ramping up polarising rhetoric in incendiary speeches that have targeted the Muslim minority.
The world's most populous nation began voting on April 19 in a seven-phase election in which nearly one billion people are eligible to vote, with ballots set to be counted on June 4.
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Modi is seeking a rare, third straight term in a vote which pits his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against an alliance of more than two dozen opposition parties. Surveys suggest he will win a comfortable majority.
Modi cast his ballot in the Gandhinagar constituency where his number two, Home Minister Amit Shah, is the BJP candidate.
He urged citizens to actively participate in the "festival of democracy", while taking care of their health as summer temperatures continued to rise in many parts of the country.
Clad in saffron and white, he was surrounded by hundreds of supporters and party members, signing autographs and talking to children on the way to the polling station.
In recent campaign rallies, Modi has called Muslims “infiltrators” and said they “have too many children,” referring to a Hindu nationalist trope that Muslims produce more children with the aim of outnumbering Hindus in India. He has also accused the rival Indian National Congress party of scheming to “loot” wealth from the country’s Hindus and redistribute it among Muslims, who comprise 14% of India’s more than 1.4 billion people.
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Election Commission tells X to remove Modi's party video
India's Election Commission on Tuesday directed social media platform X to take down an official video post by the BJP after an opposition complaint.
The animated video published last week during India's long general election accused opposition Congress leaders of planning to extend welfare benefits to the minority Muslim community at the cost of other disadvantaged tribal and Hindu caste groups.
The clip depicted a caricature of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi placing a large egg tagged "Muslims" and feeding "funds" to the hatchling that emerges, which then pushes out of the nest three other hatchlings representing disadvantaged groups.
Congress said in its complaint to the election body that the post sought to "intimidate" members of the three weaker groups to not vote for the party "by projecting that funds reserved for them will be usurped by Muslims".
Read moreIndia’s animated video wars cause stir on the campaign trail
"X is directed to take down the post immediately," a letter from the election commission to the social media platform said.
'The mask has dropped'
The ruling BJP relies heavily on Modi's popularity, with his image adorning everything from sacks of rice handed out to the poor to large posters in cities and towns.
But some voters said they were not won over by the government's track record after Modi's 10 years in power.
"Yes, the government gives us free rice, but what's the point? Look at the cost of potatoes and onions. It was never so high before," said 50-year old Rina Kathar from Baligate in the northeastern state of Assam, which also voted on Tuesday.
Assam is prone to frequent flooding and M. Ahmed, 30, said his basic concerns included bad roads and poor drainage systems in the state capital Guwahati.
The BJP aims to clinch a supermajority or two-thirds of the 543 seats up for grabs in India’s lower Parliament by consolidating votes among the majority Hindu population, who make up 80%.
Analysts say Modi’s party is ratcheting up polarising speeches to distract voters from larger issues, like unemployment and economic distress, that the opposition has focused on.
While India’s economy is among the world’s fastest growing, many people face growing economic stress. The opposition alliance hopes to tap into this discontent, seeking to galvanise voters on issues like high unemployment, inflation, corruption and low agricultural prices, which have driven two years of farmers’ protests.
“The mask has dropped, and I think it is political compulsions that have made them do this,” said Ali Khan Mahmudabad, a political science professor at New Delhi’s Ashoka University.
Court extends pre-trial detention of key opposition leader
The BJP is also accused of "targeting" opposition leaders with corruption and tax evasion charges.
An Indian city court extended on Tuesday the pre-trial detention of opposition leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal until May 20, legal news website Live Law reported, weeks before the capital votes in national elections.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), India's financial crime-fighting agency, arrested Kejriwal – a staunch Modi critic – on March 21 in connection with corruption allegations, which he and his party have denied.
He has been in prison since April 1, along with two other senior leaders of his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) who have also been arrested in the same case, hurting his party's election campaign.
Read moreThe taxman cometh for India’s weakened opposition as Modi eyes election victory
Low voter turnout anxieties
Changes in the BJP’s campaign may also be a sign of anxiety around low voter turnout it had not anticipated. Voter turnout in the first two phases have been slightly lower than the same rounds in the last election in 2019, according to official data.
“In recent elections, the BJP’s wins have been associated with getting the voters out (to vote),” Mahmudabad said. “There may be some fatigue, anti-incumbency or even disenchantment,” which has led the BJP to escalate their rhetoric.
Modi's critics say India’s tradition of diversity and secularism has come under attack since the prime minister and his party rose to power a decade ago. While there have long been tensions between India’s majority Hindu community and Muslims, rights groups say that attacks against minorities have become more brazen under Modi.
The party denies the accusation and says its policies benefit all Indians.
Mahmudabad, the political scientist, said Modi’s party had counted on getting votes from the fervour over a Hindu temple that was built atop a razed mosque that Modi opened in January. Many saw the glitzy spectacle as the unofficial start of his election campaign.
“Instead, people are talking about inflation, unemployment and economic distress,” Mahmudabad said. “And so in order to galvanise and consolidate their vote, the BJP has raised the spectre of Muslims.”
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
