Photo Credit: File Photo
India's general election is the largest democratic exercise ever.Today, April 19th, Indians have begun choosing a new parliament for the next five years, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a third consecutive term.
Opinion polls put Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies ahead. They are up against the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (India), which groups more than two dozen opposition parties including Congress, which was dominant for decades until the BJP took office in 2014.
The election to the lower house (Lok Sabha) is taking place in a sour atmosphere. The opposition say they have been denied a level playing field, with many leaders raided by federal law enforcement agencies.
With 1.4 billion people, India is the world’s most populous country and the numbers around the election are interesting. Polling to elect 543 MPs will run in seven phases over six weeks, ending on 1 June. Results are on 4 June.
Some 969 million citizens are eligible to cast their ballot. Populations of US, Russia, Japan, Britain, Brazil, Belgium and France come close to how many Indians are on the electoral rolls.
Among the voters, 497 million are men while 471 million are female.
Voting is staggered for security and logistical reasons. For the first time, the Election Commission has said elderly and disabled people can vote from home by postal ballot.
Nearly 1.5 million polling booths have been set up across the country, with Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar vowing to “take democracy to every corner of India”.
“Our teams will walk the extra mile to reach every voter, whether they are in jungles or on snowy mountains. We will go on horseback, elephants, mules or helicopters. We will reach everywhere.”
Rajiv Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner.
India's electoral commission has been equipped with nearly 5.5 million electronic voting machines with 15 million polling officials and security staff set up. 400k vehicles will be used generally.
While most polling booths are in schools, colleges and community centers, unusual locations are sometimes chosen - like shipping containers, mountain tops or forests.
The polling has already kicked off.
Lewis Musonye
