Millions of voters voted in the second stage of the Indian mega-elections, which closed this Friday, April 26, and which showed a snapshot of the country's enormous ethnic and religious diversity. The regions that voted contain some of the most important strongholds for the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and there citizens traveled using various means of transport, while electoral teams provided boxes, toured large areas and went door to door to allow older adults to exercise their right to vote. The elections last six weeks and are divided into seven phases.
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India concluded this Friday, April 26, the second phase—of seven in total— of mega general elections that take place over six weeks and in which at least 968 million voters are authorized to vote throughout the country.
The colossal Indian elections, the largest in the world, have a special meaning this time: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his powerful Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with a Hindu nationalist ideology, seek to seal a victory and access a third term facing against a coalition of at least 24 opposition parties.
Read alsoElections in India: the general elections with the largest number of voters in the world are underway
The elections will also decide the 543 members of the Lower House of the Indian Parliament for a five-year period. This Friday, the voting process carried out throughout the country showed the tremendous diversity of the population in the most populous country in the world.
In the desert state of Rajasthan, in the northeast of the country, voters traveled on camel backs to reach the polling stations, while further south, in the neighboring state of Gujarat, polling stations carried out surveys and opinion measurements among older adults.
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After seventy years of multi-party rule in northwestern Rajasthan, some said they had voted for a young, independent political candidate: Ravindra Singh Bhati.
In Kochi, in the south of the country; as well as Barmer (northwest) and in Ahmedabad—near the border with Pakistan—a snapshot of the immense ethnic and population diversity of India could also be seen: Millions of voters, of different races, ethnicities and religious beliefs, lined up for hours at polling stations throughout the territory.. Some even undertook long walks in rural and difficult-to-access areas to exercise and cast their vote.
In Gujarat, on the country's west coast, elderly voters were able to cast their ballots from their homes: groups and teams of election officials canvassed large areas carrying boxes door to door to ensure maximum turnout.
Modi's ruling party hopes to prevail over its rivals
This Friday, electoral teams concluded the voting process around 6:00 p.m. local time, sealing the electronic voting machines inside containers, before sending them for processing and vote counting.
The result of Friday's vote will be crucial: Among the 88 constituencies contested in 13 of the 28 states are some of the most important strongholds for the current prime minister and his partyin states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Most polls predict a comfortable victory for Modi and the BJP, which faces a broad opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress and powerful regional parties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his main rivals They also raised the tone of the campaign this Friday, April 26, which has focused on both recurring and emerging problems: such as religious discrimination, nationalism, poverty, unemployment, environmental problems, taxes and – also – what opponents consider the autocratic drift of Modi, who seeks to obtain 370 of the 543 seats in Parliament, compared to 303 of 2019.
This would allow him, in theory, to promote radical changes in the Constitution and lawsso the growing number of allied parties in the opposition seeks to stop the advance of Modi and his party, and thus prevent him from trying to perpetuate himself in power or consolidate a policy of regression in political and religious rights, as well as persecution and harassment against their adversaries and dissident voices.
Read alsoIndia goes to the polls for six weeks to elect prime minister
With information from Reuters, AP and EFE.
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