The BJP's appetite to continue in power consolidating the Hindu majority vote will spell the end of democracy and secularism in India, the detractors of Narendra Modi say.
For the moment, the election announcement has set the stage for a marathon electoral contest amid the heat and dust of summer in the world’s most populous nation.
a cut out of Modi outside BJP office in Hyderabad
(snap - UCAN/AFP)
It will be a keenly watched affair in the country as also on the global stage – no Indian leader except the first prime minister, Late Jawaharlal Nehru, has managed the feat of returning to power for a third consecutive term in office. Nehru’s Congress and its provincial allies, who are looking to challenge Modi and his BJP, have been complaining about the lack of a “level playing field” due to the “politically motivated” actions of the ruling dispensation.
“India’s Enforcement Directorate [or ED which is mandated to investigate economic violations] are hyperactive against opposition leaders,” alleged Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Many politicians from the Congress and other parties have in the immediate past chosen to quit and join the BJP to escape the harassment by the ED and other probe agencies, he added. However, the latest data released by the Election Commission revealed that the BJP was the biggest beneficiary of anonymous political donations, mostly from corporate bodies, under an electoral bonds scheme floated by the Modi government.
The Supreme Court has declared the scheme as “unconstitutional,” saying funding to political parties, especially from corporate firms, cannot be anonymous.
The BJP encashed 48 percent of such donations or $730 million of the total amount declared so far. The Congress, the main opposition party, had by contrast received only $171 million or 11 percent of the donations from corporate firms. The Trinamool Congress, another opposition party based in West Bengal state, received around 12 percent.
Some of India’s top billionaires figure among donors, taking advantage of the anonymity offered by the Modi government’s scheme. A prominent name that emerged is that of UK-based Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, executive chairman of steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal.
Political analyst Ramakanto Shanyal felt the flow of donations indicates the BJP is far ahead of the others on account of its power and popularity. “Being the ruling party, it can influence decision-making and clear big projects,” he said.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar last week announced the dates for holding the national election in the world’s largest democracy. Voting will take place in phases over six weeks during April and May and the counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are seeking a third term in office, having won the previous elections in 2014 and 2019. Modi’s detractors anticipate that if he comes back to power the biggest casualty could be India's parliamentary democracy.
Opposition parties like Aam Aadmi Party (Common People’s Party or AAP) point to BJP's campaign to hold “One Nation, One Election” by 2029, if not earlier.
But can the opposition parties turn the tables on Modi and his BJP by exposing their role in the electoral bonds scheme? That is a million-dollar question since the opposition rank and file are seen engaging in infighting rather than taking on the prime minister.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the serving chief minister of West Bengal, has unilaterally dumped her alliance with the Congress and communist parties in the state. Congress leader Chowdhury, who hails from West Bengal, said Banerjee is scared of Modi and his probe agencies. Some of her former cabinet colleagues were raided and jailed in the past as huge amounts of currency notes were found at their private residences.
Both the BJP and the Trinamool Congress deny the charge.
Varanasi-based analyst Tushar Bhadra says the Congress and its allies are banking on Rahul Gandhi, a great-grandson of Nehru. “But he has failed so far in garnering votes. Hence many within the opposition believe they should forget about the 2024 polls and start preparations for the 2029 polls when Modi may seek a fourth term.”
Modi’s biggest asset is his oratorial skill and the ability to spin political debates in his favor. In contrast, Gandhi is a poor communicator, who is given to crisscross the country on foot in the hope of drumming up support from the voters.
The Congress, which swears by the socialist, secular ideals of the Indian constitution, is dubbed as being anti-Hindu by mainstream media and in popular discourse influenced by social media. This suits Modi’s BJP well as it is seen as representing the Hindu religious and cultural sentiments of the country’s majority.
As India watcher and French scholar Christophe Jaffrelot pointed out, the opposition must “recreate the appetite” for the good old secular spirit in India.
A recent Pew survey found the Indian prime minister was viewed favorably by nearly 80 percent of Indians. Modi is claiming that he is “not going to stop with 2024 or 2029 [elections]... I am working for 2047 [election].”
India will be celebrating 100 years of independence from the colonial yoke in 2047, and Modi, who was born in 1950, will be 97 years old then. In contrast, Congress risks becoming further irrelevant.
Currently, it controls just three of India’s 28 states and less than 10 percent of seats in the lower house of parliament.
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