Pedro González
Journalist
From 19 April until 4 June, when the results will be officially announced, India is holding its general elections in seven successive phases, in what is the most colossal and costly economic and logistical effort for what is considered to be the world’s largest democracy.
970 million voters cast their ballots over the 44 days of the electoral process to elect the 543 members of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, and thus the prime minister of the world’s most populous and populous country, currently vying with China for supremacy on the Asian continent.
Having established its democracy almost simultaneously with its independence from the British Empire in 1947, India has managed to keep it intact despite what some observers describe as distortions, such as the advantage enjoyed by the ruling party in the collection and distribution of public funds over other political formations. But this time, after three quarters of a century of uninterrupted democratic rule, India enters the general election as a global power. It has come to this status after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two terms in office, characterised by three main defining features: nationalism increasingly identified with the majority Hindu religion, very strong economic growth, and a sharp balance in its international relations.
Narendra Modi is shattering the old cliché of a fascinating country, but one eaten up by misery and caste clashes. The persistence of supposedly obsolete customs and traditions has not prevented the country from becoming, among many other things, the world’s largest factory of computer engineers, who not only nurture the talents of leading companies in the United States or the United Kingdom, but have also enabled a colossal advance in India’s technological industries, crowned with milestones such as having successfully placed a vehicle on the moon, which has allowed it to join the club of the greats in the space race.
At the head of the Bharatiya Janata (People’s Party), 73-year-old Narendra Modi is seeking a third term in office, which, if confirmed, would put him on a par with India’s first head of government, Jawaharlal Nehru. Facing him is a weakened Congress Party, led by Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, the latter heir to the saga that dominated the country’s political scene for fifty years.
In view of its poor chances in the polls, the Congress Party has entered into alliances with several regional parties, including the All India Trinamool Congress and the heteroclite National Alliance for Inclusive Development. It does not seem, however, that such a conglomerate can unseat Modi, who is accused of attempting a strong recentralisation of the country as well as wanting to abolish secularism, enshrined in the Constitution, for a Hindu nationalism that penalises the country’s minority faiths, especially Muslims and Christians, who have suffered persecutions of varying intensity throughout the BJP’s decade in power.
In any case, the next five years will be crucial for both India and Asia as a whole. The struggle with China looks set to intensify, especially over dominance of the Himalayas and control of the Indian Ocean. The Modi government in New Delhi has achieved a fundamental rapprochement with the United States, which in turn gives it preferential treatment as a counterweight to a China that has emerged as the global adversary of the American superpower. The head of the Indian government has also been able to take advantage of international sanctions against Putin’s Russia, channelling oil that EU countries could not openly buy from Moscow to Europe at huge profit margins.
Integrated into the core of the BRICS and the G20, whose last summit in India itself served as Modi’s best showcase, Modi’s India is also committed to strengthening ideology as much as or more than economics, aware that the growing polarisation of the world will leave little room for ambiguity and will require strong convictions to mobilise with or against whomever it may be.
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