Hindu Nationalist Modi The Favourite As India Votes

Haridwar, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Apr, 2024) India began voting Friday in a six-week election with an all but assured victory for Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a weakened opposition is pushed to the sidelines.

A total of 968 million people are eligible to take part in the world's biggest vote -- a staggering logistical exercise that critics say follows a concerted effort to delegitimise rivals.

A long and winding queue was patiently assembled outside a polling station in the Hindu holy city of Haridwar, on the banks of the Ganges river, even before the booths opened.

"Modi had ensured our country as well as our faith is secure," 59-year-old Hindu ascetic Uday Bharti told AFP outside a polling station.

"We have come here to make sure Modi keeps doing his good work."

Modi, 73, remains resoundingly popular after a decade in office that has seen India rise in diplomatic clout and economic power, as well as efforts by his government to bring the country's majority faith in ever closer alignment with its politics.

"I urge all those voting... to exercise their franchise in record numbers," he wrote in a post on X as the election began.

"Every vote counts and every voice matters!"

Modi has already led the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through two landslide victories in 2014 and 2019, forged in large part by his appeal to the Hindu faithful.

This year, he presided over the inauguration of a grand temple to the deity Ram, built on the grounds of a centuries-old mosque razed by Hindu zealots.

Construction of the temple fulfilled a long-standing demand of Hindu activists and was widely celebrated across India with back-to-back television coverage and street parties.