India’s general elections begins

India’s general election began today as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party hopes to increase its parliamentary majority amid allegations that the country’s democracy has been undermined since it came to power 10 years ago.

India’s elections is said to have the world’s largest democratic exercise with more than 969 million voters, amounting to more than 10% of the world’s population. The voting began at 8am today, when polling opened at 102 constituencies across the country, and will continue over the next six weeks, in seven phases, until 1^st of June and all results will be counted and declared on 4^th of June.

The elections have been described by analysts at the most predictable polls India has held in decades, with Modi and his BJP widely expected to win a third term in power.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

While surveys show the current Indian leader to be nation’s most popular political leader by a wide margin, political opponents have also accused the government of “skewing the pitch” of the election and eroding the integrity of India’s democracy and its electoral processes.

Dolupo Balogun

Written by Boom RadioNG