CHENNAI: India began voting on Friday (Apr 19) in the world's largest election as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a historic third term in office on the back of issues such as growth, welfare, Hindu
that promise greater affirmative action and more handouts while stressing what they call the need to save democratic institutions.
Friday's phase is the first and largest of seven, covering 166 million voters in 102 constituencies across 21 states and territories, from Tamil Nadu in the south to Arunachal Pradesh on the Himalayan frontier with China. "Even the Hindus are affected by a lack of jobs," he said, explaining that he saw it outweighing Hindu nationalism as an election issue in the Hindu-majority nation.a grand temple to the God-king Lord RamCritics accuse Modi's government and party of targeting India's 200 million minority Muslims to please their hardline Hindu base - charges both deny.
"Modi has made India a peaceful country, particularly for Hindus," said S Rajagopal, a three-wheel taxi driver in the state capital of Chennai.V Parasuraman, 55, who works in the construction business, said the BJP had done little for Tamil Nadu, however. With India forecast to experience more heatwave days than normal this year, a more immediate concern is how the weather could affect voter turnout.
Some BJP insiders and analysts say the party is worried about fatigue, complacency or overconfidence among voters and party members, however, and needs to draw people to vote.
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