By Isolde Doubell
Throughout 2024, 4.2 billion people in 65 countries will be eligible to participate in governmental elections. Almost one billion of those (more than 10% of the world’s population) are Indian. India’s election is not only one of the largest and most expensive elections world-wide, but also one of the most prolonged, as the election is divided into seven phases over a six week period. India’s election began on 19 April, with the final phase taking place on 1 June, after which the votes will be counted and results made public by 4 June. On 13 May, in the fourth phase, voters elected 96 representatives of the 543 member Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of parliament. To ensure voting access to such a large population, more than one million polling booths are used and electronic voting machines are carried on the backs of horses and elephants to reach the most remote areas. In addition to that, the Election Commission deployed approximately 15 million people to oversee the operation.
India has more than 2,500 political parties, however 86% of all seats in the Lok Sabha are composed of just 10 parties. The two most prominent parties are current Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has been in power since 2014, and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a coalition of 26 parties led by Rahul Gandhi‘s Indian National Congress. This was the party of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that ruled India for decades, but it is now plagued by accusations of elitism. Political analysts agree that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will most likely be at the helm again for a third term, but whether or not the majority will be as prominent as in 2019 when his party won 303 out of 543 seats, remains to be seen.
While the BJP dominates in populous northern states, an area known as the ‘Hindi belt’, the party has struggled to make inroads into many eastern and southern states, particularly in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where regional politics are strong, society is more religiously cohesive, and Hindu nationalist politics seem to resonate less with the populace. In this election, the BJP has been focusing much of its attention on winning seats in the south. However, unemployment and high inflation rates are also issues that will have to be addressed.
Mr Modi is a single man without children who grew up in poor circumstances. He often calls the Indian people “Modi ka Parivar” [Modi’s family]. His Hindu nationalist agenda has won him support among swathes of India’s 80% Hindu majority, often enabling him to transcend traditional caste and class barriers. Those adhering to minority religions such as Christians and Muslims have been wary that a third term might severely impact the secularism protected in the constitution, which guarantees equality for all religions. Christians have already experienced rising levels of persecution over the past decade of Modi’s rule; in fact India features as high up as eleventh on the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted Christians. Eleven of India’s 28 states have anti-conversion laws in place. In theory, these laws are meant to prevent attempts to convert people away from Hinduism through ‘misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by fraudulent means’. But in reality, they’re often used to harass and intimidate religious minorities for simply expressing their faith. According to the Joshua Project, India is the country with the most unreached people groups in the world (95% of the 1.4 billion population is considered unreached) with just 2.3% of the population adhering to Christianity. The global Christian community can pray for the Indian Church during this time to make use of every opportunity to witness that their eternal hope is not grounded in earthly leaders but is found in the one true God.
Please join us in prayer for the following:
- Pray for the elections to be free and fair; that no coercion or intimidation will occur
- Pray for those who are elected to govern in a justly manner that benefits all Indians, including minority groups
- Pray for God to strengthen His church in India to be able to remain strong amidst persecution