The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is likely to win the largest number of seats in the forthcoming general elections in India’s frontier region of the Northeast, similar to the results of the last general election five years ago. India’s Northeast comprises the eight border states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, … Read more
With the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) electoral juggernaut looking to dominate the upcoming polls, the Indian opposition has responded by uniting to create a grand coalition: the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). We’re joined by Snigdhendu Bhattacharya and Gilles Verniers, who help break down the dynamics of the opposition alliance, their struggles against … Read more
Magazine Is India becoming an “election-only democracy”? Supporters wait for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrive at the venue of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) election campaign rally in Hyderabad, India, March 15, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A. India’s much-anticipated general elections are set to run from April 19 to June 1, 2024. … Read more
Picture this scene: With general elections looming, the leader of the main opposition party is unseated from Parliament, and 146 members of Parliament find themselves suspended for daring to question the government. The bank account of the main opposition party is frozen. Federal agencies incarcerate two sitting chief ministers from opposition parties under draconian money … Read more
On March 16, while commenting on the recently-scrapped electoral bond scheme, an anonymous and controversial political funding scheme introduced by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had always favored transparency, but mechanisms to protect “donor’s privacy” should also be considered to … Read more
From April 19 to June 1, nearly 970 million Indians – or over 10 percent of the global population – are eligible to vote in general elections. The mammoth exercise is the biggest anywhere in the world and will take 44 days before results are announced on June 4. Why does it take so long? … Read more
Join Beyond the Indus host Tushar Shetty in the lead up to the Great Indian Election as we explore Narendra Modi’s BJP, and what made it the dominant force in Indian politics. We sit down with Akhilesh Pillalamari and Ashutosh Varshney, who help break down the politics of Hindutva and its impact on Indian society, … Read more
Maldah Uttar is a parliamentary constituency in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, where Muslims – India’s largest minority religious group – make up about 45 percent of the electorate. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) carried out a high-pitched communally polarizing campaign and emerged as … Read more
In a significant political development ahead of parliamentary elections due in a few months, two of India’s major opposition parties, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), sealed a seat adjustment deal involving four states and one union territory. This came close on the heels of the Congress reaching a seat-sharing deal with the Samajwadi Party (SP) … Read more
India’s finance minister unveiled on Thursday a short-term budget to meet government expenditures until national elections are held by May, saying it will boost spending on infrastructure projects, build homes for poor villagers, and cut the fiscal deficit by reducing subsidies. Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to raise skills for young people and boost small and … Read more