NEW DELHI (AP) – India yesterday announced its six-week-long general elections will start on April 19, with most surveys predicting a victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party.
Voting in the world’s largest democracy will stretch over seven phases, with different states voting at different times and results announced on June 4. Over 970 million voters – more than 10 per cent of the world’s population – will elect 543 members for the Lower House of Parliament for a term of five years.
Modi, who is seeking a third consecutive term, faces little challenge as the main opposition alliance of over two dozen regional parties led by the Indian National Congress party appears to be cracking, riven by rivalries, political defections and ideological clashes. Analysts said the elections are likely to cement Modi as one of India’s most enduring most consequential leaders.
Each election phase will last one day and several constituencies – spread across multiple states, densely populated cities and far-flung villages – will vote that day. The staggered polling allows the government to deploy tens of thousands of troops to prevent violence and transport electoral officials and voting machines.
India has a first-past-the-post multiparty electoral system in which the candidate who receives the most votes wins.
Modi has been travelling across the country inaugurating new projects, making speeches and engaging with voters. The 73-year-old Modi first swept to power in 2014 on promises of economic development, presenting himself as an outsider cracking down on the political elite.
