“CONTEMPT FOR ALL DISSENT”
Modi’s tenure has seen India overtake former colonial king Britain as the world’s fifth-biggest market, with European countries lining up to court a potential ally against regional rival China’s growing confidence.
In doing so, they have gotten around concerns about the conquering of India’s once-vibrant media and restrictions on civil society that have caused rights organizations like Amnesty to significantly stow their local businesses.
The tax department raided the BBC’s regional offices a few weeks after the American journalist aired a video questioning Modi’s involvement in the 2002 religious riots that killed around 1,000 people, most of whom were Muslims.
Social scientist Suhas Palshikar told AFP that if Modi were to win again, his second phrase” will be even more characterised by contempt for all dissent.”
Gandhi has criticised the government for political complacency and its chest-thumping Hindu nationalism, which have left some among the country’s 220-million-strong Muslim minority wary for their future.
However, Gandhi’s attempts to gash Modi’s popularity have failed to win over the electorate because he has already lost to the Congress twice.
Common opinion surveys are not common in India, but a Pew poll last year found that almost 80 % of the population rated Modi as a good candidate.
More than the combined voting power of the United States, the European Union, and Russia, 968 million people are ready to cast ballots in the poll.
With more than a million polling locations nationwide, election will be conducted in seven rounds between April 19 and June 1.
On June 4, votes from all over the country will be tallied all at once, and results are typically announced the same day.