Polls open as Modi seeks third term

HARIDWAR, India — India began voting on Friday in a six-week election with an all but assured victory for Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to the media and experts.

A total of 968 million people are eligible to take part in the vote.

A long and winding line was patiently assembled outside a polling station in the Hindu holy city of Haridwar, on the banks of the Ganges River, even before booths opened.

"I am here because I am happy about the direction the country is headed," autorickshaw driver Ganga Singh, 27, said. "I will vote keeping in mind not personal welfare, but the country's prosperity."

Modi, 73, remains resoundingly popular after a decade in office that has seen India rise in diplomatic clout and economic power, as well as efforts by his government to bring the country's majority faith in ever closer alignment with its politics.

Modi's tenure has seen India overtake former colonial ruler Britain as the world's fifth-biggest economy.

"I urge all those voting ... to exercise their franchise in record numbers," he wrote in a social media post on X as the election began. "Every vote counts and every voice matters!"

Modi has already led the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, through two landslide victories in 2014 and 2019, forged in large part by his appeal to the Hindu faithful, Agence France-Presse commented.

Criminal probes

Analysts have long expected Modi to triumph against a fractious alliance of more than two dozen parties that have yet to name a candidate for prime minister.

His prospects have been further bolstered by several criminal probes into his opponents and a tax investigation this year that froze the bank accounts of Congress, India's largest opposition party.

"We have no money to campaign, we cannot support our candidates," Rahul Gandhi, the most prominent Congress leader, said. "Our ability to fight elections has been damaged."

Gandhi — the scion of India's most famous political dynasty, whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather all served as prime minister — was briefly disqualified from parliament last year after being convicted of criminal libel.

The 53-year-old has criticized the government for failing to create jobs for India's millions of out-of-work youth and its chest-thumping Hindu nationalism.

"Your one vote can put an end to inflation, unemployment, hatred and injustice," his party said on X.

But Gandhi has already led Congress to two defeats against Modi.

Published opinion polls are rare in India, but a Pew survey last year found Modi was viewed favorably by nearly 80 percent of the public.

Voting will be staggered over seven stages between April 19 and June 1, with more than a million polling stations across India. Ballots will be counted all at once on June 4 and are usually announced on the same day.

Agencies Via Xinhua