By Ankita Naraparaju '16
A national election is a massive deal for any nation, but for the world’s largest democracy, this national general election, currently underway, represents a series of firsts and groundbreaking records. Not only will India’s national election be the largest democratic event in its history, it might possibly be the largest in the world’s history. Throughout a series of nine phases from April 7th to May 12th, about 800 million Indian voters, which is the highest number of registered voters the nation has ever experienced, will cast their ballots for the prime minister and parliamentary positions. For the first time ever, voters will be able to select the option “none of the above” for parliamentary candidates.
Other notable factors contributing to the outcome of this historical milestone is the role of social media and networking within the election. With voters aged 18-19 making up approximately 24 million of the total registered voters, social media is bound to be a resourceful tool in campaign strategy and political awareness. However, perhaps the most frequently used superlative defining the nature of this election is its colossal price tag. The total cost of the election is expected to be approximately $5 billion; this ranks second to the 2012 US Presidential election. This price tag reflects the sheer size and scope of this election and the transition of the Indian election culture to a more Western-influenced style of campaigning and fund-raising. India is entering into the big leagues of national elections. While inflation contributes slightly to the exorbitant price tag, most of the weight comes from candidates’ desire to entice a younger more tech-savvy voter base. Thus, a lot of observers are seeing campaigns invest large sums in digital marketing agendas. From the last election in 2009 to the current election, the digital advertising budget more than tripled in value. What sets Indian national elections apart from most is the overwhelming monetary support from the Indian diaspora across the world where major campaign efforts are apparent in the United Kingdom and United States. As expected, the extremely high costs of the election have some people uneasy about the power of money in politics, especially when corruption and bribery are major issues.
Some major issues in this election are economic development, job creation, price increases of Indian food staples, and religious identity. Narendhra Modi, the prime minister candidate for the opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party, has faced significant criticism for his extreme Hindu nationalist views and facing accusations related to crimes against Muslim populations. While Modi has denied all of these accusations and has been cleared by the Supreme Court, he is a notable figure in India for leading the nation’s best-run state of Gujarat for the past 13 years. Yet, Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress Party is the most likely candidate for prime minister due to his platform of embracing the heterogeneous nature of India and beliefs that Modi would split the nation along religious lines.
The issue at hand continues to be that many people have lost faith in the Congress Party because of the high rates of corruption and bribery amongst government officials. Both parties have resorted to taking ad hominem approaches to campaigning with Modi’s wife and Gandhi’s sister, Priyanka Gandhi, as victims of defaming slurs and insults.
As the voting process progresses, it will be interesting to observe the outcome of the election. Many analysts forecast a win for the opposition party due to the overall national distrust of the Congress Party but only time will tell when the winner of the new government is announced on May 16th.
Sources:
http://www.ibtimes.com/indias-2014-election-cost-5-billion-second-only-price-tag-2012-us-presidential-election-1570668 http://thediplomat.com/2014/03/indias-record-breaking-2014-elections/ http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/india-election-digest-april-10/ http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-lok-sabha-elections-2014-gloves-off-as-india-s-bjp-woos-the-hindu-vote-in-northern-heartland-1976175