Bengaluru/New Delhi - Voters across
swaths of southern India began queuing up early on Thursday in
the second phase of a mammoth, staggered general election in
which opposition parties are trying to stop Prime Minister
Narendra Modi from winning a second term.
More than 155 million people are eligible to vote in the
second phase, which covers 95 parliament constituencies in 12
states including parts of restive Jammu and Kashmir. India's
parliament has 545 members.
The focus will be on the southern states of Tamil Nadu and
Karnataka, where the main opposition Congress party and its
allies need to win big if they hope to oust Modi's Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP).
The BJP secured a landslide majority in the previous general
election in 2014, in part by winning sweeping victories in six
northern states that gave the party 70 percent of all its seats,
said Neelanjan Sircar, an assistant professor at Ashoka
University near the capital, New Delhi.
"You can never expect you’ll do that again," he said. "Those
seats that you lose, you’ll have to make up somewhere."
Sircar also said the BJP would be looking to make gains in
Karnataka.
A Kashmiri man displays the indelible ink mark on his index finger after casting his vote, outside a polling booth during the second phase of India's general elections, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. Picture: Dar Yasin/AP
The election began last week and will end next month in a
giant exercise involving almost 900 million people. Votes will
be counted on May 23 and the results are expected the same day.
Modi and the BJP have run an aggressive campaign, playing to
their nationalist, Hindu-first base and attacking rivals they
accuse of appeasing minorities.
Critics say such divisive election rhetoric is a threat to
India's secular foundations.
Voters line up to cast their votes outside a polling station during the second phase of the general election in Amroha. Picture: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
"Communal polarisation is obviously the biggest issue for
me," said Rakesh Mehar, who voted in Karnataka's capital,
Bengaluru. "And the growing intolerance in the country is what
worries me the most."
A firebrand Hindu ascetic from the BJP who governs northern
Uttar Pradesh was banned from campaigning for a few days because
of anti-Muslim comments, India's election commission said on
Monday.
The Congress party is focusing on concerns about rising
unemployment and agrarian distress and is staking it campaign on
a promise for a generous handout to India's poorest families.
Election officers sit inside an empty polling station during the second phase of India's general elections, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. Picture: Dar Yasin/AP
Voters in Bengaluru, once a sleepy retirement town that has
been transformed into India's technology hub, said they wanted
lawmakers who would fix infrastructure problems such as traffic
congestion and poor water management.
"We have been voting every time expecting a change but
nothing has come so far. People are talking about national
issues," said Manjunath Munirathnappa. "But only when they fix
the local issues will there be progress in the nation."