India: Fourth Phase of Parliamentary Elections Underway

India, an Asian country of 1.45 billion people, has begun the fourth of seven phases of parliamentary elections to renew the Lok Sabha (House of the People), the lower house of the Indian parliament. During the fourth election round, 96 constituencies from ten states and Indian Union Territories will vote, with a total of 1717 candidates running.

In the previous phase (May 7) of general elections, more than half of the 543 members of the Lok Sabha had already been elected. Turnout was 65.7%, just under 66% recorded in 2019 in the same districts.

In all, nearly 970 million voters are called to the polls. The fourth round will be followed by three other rounds, scheduled for May 20, May 25, and June 1. The results of the vote are due to be announced on June 4. Elections are held under a majoritarian system. The battle is for 543 seats in single-mandate districts. Four states – Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, and Orissa – are also renewing their local legislative assemblies, and 13 states are vying for an additional 26 seats.

In the previous Parliament, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Indian People’s Party (BJP), controlled 346 seats. According to recent opinion polls, Modi’s coalition could pick up between 373 and 399 seats in the new Lok Sabha. The gap with the opposition, represented by the Indian National Congress (INC), which leads the pre-election bloc Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), is significant. Polls promise between 113 and 155 seats for this coalition.

The BJP’s election program builds upon “10 years of good governance,” the main outcome of which was “inclusive economic and social growth.” It has enabled 250 million people to “move out of poverty.” Many promises, dubbed “Modi guarantees” in India, are also sounding. They appeal to different social groups – from less affluent families to the new middle classes, women, youth, the elderly, farmers, Gig Economy workers, small entrepreneurs, and the “marginalized groups” of Indian society.

The opposition (Indian National Congress) based its program on “the political legacy of the fathers of independent India – Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.” The INDIA bloc has placed the defense of the Constitution and its fundamental values, which define the Indian Republic as a “sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic state,” at the center of its election campaign, promising voters “social and economic justice.”