INDIA, WORLD’S LARGEST DEMOCRACY, VOTES

Citizens of India began voting in a multiphase general election that will continue until June 1, 2024.

The results will be announced on June 4 and will determine the political direction of the world’s most populous nation for the next five years. Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, whose power is well entrenched, seeks a third term. In his decade at the helm, he has projected himself as a champion of India’s development, trying to address some of the basic failures – antiquated infrastructure and a lack of clean water and toilets – that have kept the country from reaching its potential as a major power.

How does India vote?

India has a parliamentary system of governance. The elections are for the 543 contested seats in the lower house of Parliament, called Lok Sabha, for a term of five years. To rule, a party or a coalition needs a simple majority of 272 seats. PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 303 seats the last time, followed by 52 for the main opposition, Indian National Congress (INC). The party or coalition holding a majority of the 543 seats in the lower house of the Parliament gets to form the government and appoint one of its winning candidates as PM. The country has over 960 million eligible voters, about 470 million women. The turnout in the 2019 parliamentary election was 67 per cent, the highest ever. The votes are cast electronically across more than a million polling stations, which require about 15 million employees during balloting. The world’s most populous nation follows the first-past-the-post system, where voters cast a vote for a single candidate in a constituency (tinkhundla) and the candidate with the most votes wins. The voting age is 18 years and contestants need to be at least 25 years old. To reach every possible voter, even in the isolated islands, election officials travel by any means possible, railroads and helicopters, on horseback and boats. This is a very simplified version of a very complicated process.

Modi’s political party

PM Modi’s BJP holds a strong majority in the 543-seat Parliament and seems poised to win again. The BJP won 303 seats in 2019, and along with its coalition partners, the two main alliances are the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Modi’s BJP, enjoyed a majority of 352 seats. The BJP is well-placed to return to power and it claims to be the world’s largest political organisation, with almost 180 million members. The BJP was established in 1980 out of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh Party, an offshoot of the far-right Hindu nationalist organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS, formed in 1925 along the lines of European ethnonationalism movements and fascist parties, wanted India to be classified as a Hindu nation. The BJP is relentless in trying to expand its base; it appears to be well-funded and has strong election machinery. Commentators say Modi has built on it a multipronged approach that offers something for nearly everyone: There is the wider emotional appeal of his Hindu majoritarian ideology for his main base, coupled with a broad range of welfare and infrastructure programmes to win new constituencies for the BJP. PM Modi is chasing a record third straight term in the footsteps of India’s first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru.

The opposition, INC  

The INC and a coalition of 28 parties, called the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), led by the main opposition INC, welded by the aim of unseating the BJP, has struggled to match Modi’s appeal. The INC ruled India for decades, but it has been reduced to the shadows of its former glory in two consecutive national elections. This is the political party of Mahatma Gandhi, who is considered the father of India. In 2019, it won only 52 seats. The African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa could learn many lessons from India if it is to stay in power. Particularly the reality that the names of Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo will not always be there to help it win votes. In the lead-up to this parliamentary election, the opposition tried to unite as one bloc. The opposition parties have been brought together by fears that a third term for Modi, who is alleged to have jailed many opposition party leaders and bogged down others in investigations, would further marginalise them. But the opposition has struggled to pitch a cohesive ideological alternative beyond criticising Modi’s divisive politics, and its bickering over seat-sharing in constituencies, which has often spilled out into messy public fights.

How is India president elected?

The president of India is ‘elected’ by members of a ‘by-party Electoral College’ consisting of (a) the elected members of both houses of Parliament and (b) the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states (including National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry) as per the Constitution. There is no direct election for the Indian president. The appointed Electoral College elects him or her. The current President is President Droupadi Murmu, a female who was sworn in as the 15th president of India on July 25, 2022. She is not well-known internationally and that is by design. Her role would be appointing, ceremonial authority and mediator more like our King. The main political leader remains the PM.  

According to Article 352 of the Constitution of India, the president can declare a national emergency during times of war, armed rebellion or due to external aggression. The Indian Constitution uses the term ‘proclamation of emergency’ to describe a national emergency. The supreme command of the Indian armed forces vests with the president. The president can exercise three veto powers concerning a Bill of Parliament; the absolute veto, the suspensive veto and the pocket veto. The president is above party politics and is not involved in the day-to-day running of the State. The ruling party would have been influenced only because they would have more members in the Electoral College. Comment septemereswatini@gmail.com

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