Almost 1 billion Indians begin voting Friday in elections lasting more than six weeks, weighing up whether to hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi a third five-year term to continue his mix of economic and Hindu nationalist policies.
Voting in the world¡¯s biggest election takes place in seven phases until June 1 to accommodate the complicated logistics involved in getting ballots to everyone in the sub-continent. Polls in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and 20 other regions will take place Friday in the first phase.
Modi¡¯s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is campaigning on the prime minister¡¯s popularity, the strength of India¡¯s economy and a pro-Hindu agenda that has resonated with the country¡¯s majority. The opposition, a coalition of parties led by the Indian National Congress, is arguing that Modi has eroded India¡¯s democratic institutions and paid insufficient attention to the jobless and the poor.
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