Business And Bollywood Vote In India's Election

A parade of India's business and entertainment elite -- many of them supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- went to the polls Monday as the financial capital Mumbai voted in the latest round of the country's six-week election

Mumbai, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th May, 2024) A parade of India's business and entertainment elite -- many of them supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- went to the polls Monday as the financial capital Mumbai voted in the latest round of the country's six-week election.

Modi,73, is widely expected to win a third term when the election concludes early next month, thanks in large part to his aggressive championing of India's majority Hindu faith.

"My vote is for the BJP and Modi," said Deepak Mahajan, 42, who works in banking.

"There is no other choice if you care about the future of the economy and business. I have always voted this way."

Big conglomerates have bestowed upon Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a campaign war chest that dwarfs its rivals, while Bollywood stars have backed its ideological commitment to more closely align the country's majority religion and its politics.

Latest data shows that the BJP was by far the single biggest beneficiary of electoral bonds, a contentious political donation tool since ruled illegal by India's top court.