NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party are making a serious bid for electoral victories in three states that have sizeable minority Muslim populations. But the Bharatiya Janata Party has for years been accused of stoking religious polarization and discriminating against minorities, and faces stiff challenges making inroads in the local elections.
Top BJP leaders, including Modi, have been campaigning heavily to win West Bengal and dislodge the state’s chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, as well as retain power in northeastern Assam and expand the party’s influence in the southern states.
The BJP has soared in Hindu-dominated regions in central and northern India since Modi was elected in 2014. The upcoming state elections are seen as crucial for the party to gain a foothold in the northeast and south. The prime minister also wants to project the BJP as a national party, replacing a dynastic Congress party that governed India for more than six decades after independence from British rule in 1947.
The run-up to the elections — which begin Saturday and are spread over a month, with results declared May 2 — has been nothing short of dramatic.
In West Bengal, rival groups have attacked each other with sticks and rocks, and even set vehicles on fire. Images of the fiery and determined Banerjee, 66, who’s been addressing massive crowds from a wheelchair after a leg injury, have set the tone for a tough battle.
The elections also come as tens of thousands of farmers have rattled Modi’s government with monthslong protests on the fringes of the capital, New Delhi. And India’s economy, which was battered by the pandemic, is still struggling to emerge out of the crisis — another pivotal challenge for Modi, who came into office partly on promises of economic development. Coronavirus cases are surging steadily nationwide, after dropping earlier this year.
Down south, experts say the BJP’s chances remain low. The party is vying for a third spot in Kerala, currently ruled by a Communist Party-led government. And in legislative elections being held in Tamil Nadu in April, both the BJP and main opposition Congress party have allied with powerful regional parties as junior partners.
But in West Bengal and Assam, the BJP is banking on its strong Hindu nationalist ideology to draw votes. The party is trying to galvanize Hindu support by promising to deport hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims who fled decades ago to neighboring West Bengal and Assam. In 2018, Home Minister Amit Shah described them as “termites” eating into India’s resources.
The BJP also enacted a controversial citizenship law in 2019 that provides a fast track to naturalization for some migrants who entered the country illegally while fleeing religious persecution. But it excludes Muslims, which critics say is discriminatory and a violation of India’s Constitution.
Nationwide, Muslims comprise nearly 14% of the 1.4 billion population, while Hindus make up 80%.
However, across three states that are heading to the polls — Assam, Kerala and West Bengal — Muslims comprise around 30% of the population.
“(The BJP’s) success depends on if it is able to polarize Hindu votes to a huge extent, and get half of the 70% of Hindu votes,” said Subir Bhowmik, a political analyst.
The test for Modi is likely to be the toughest in West Bengal, analysts say, where the political discourse has shifted from issues to personalities.
And despite anti-incumbency fatigue against Banerjee, Modi is facing off against one of the state’s most popular figures in history, experts say. She’s been in power for 10 years after unseating more than three decades of Communist Party rule in the state.
In 2016, the BJP made history by winning power in Assam for the first time, ending the Congress party’s 15-year rule there. Observers say the BJP pulled off the win by reiterating its Hindutva message, raising the issue of illegal Muslim immigration from Bangladesh to appeal to Hindu voters.
But this time around, the Congress has teamed up with a key Muslim political party. “This is expected to give a tough fight to the BJP in Assam,” said Akhil Ranjan Dutta, professor of police science at Gauhati University.
“Its best hope remains in breaching West Bengal and consolidating its presence in Assam, its gateway to India’s northeast,” said analyst Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Reuters
Fri Mar 26 2021
In this March 7, 2021, file photo, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public rally ahead of West Bengal state elections in Kolkata, India.
SPRM setuju lanjut tempoh isytihar harta anak Tun M - Azam Baki
SPRM membenarkan tempoh lanjutan pengisytiharan harta dua anak bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
2 maut nahas pesawat di Ecuador, kemalangan udara ke-4 dalam tempoh 2 bulan
Dua orang terbunuh dan seorang cedera pada Selasa apabila pesawat kecil mereka terhempas di Santa Rosa, wilayah pantai selatan El Oro, Ecuador, kata Direktorat Jeneral Penerbangan Awam.
Ahmad Zahid mulakan lawatan rasmi ke Beijing
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi memulakan lawatan rasmi beliau di Beijing pagi ini dengan menghadiri mesyuarat pre-council.
MIDF jangka inflasi naik sedikit pada tahun ini
Inflasi Indeks Harga Pengeluar (IHPR) yang meningkat sebanyak 1.9 peratus tahun ke tahun pada April 2024 menunjukkan tekanan kos yang lebih tinggi untuk perniagaan tempatan, menurut MIDF Research.
Kru Shenzhou-18 jayakan misi EVA kali pertama
Kru kapal angkasa lepas Shenzhou-18 berjaya menyelesaikan aktiviti luar kenderaan (EVA) kali pertama pada Selasa, menurut Agensi Angkasa Bermanusia China (CMSA).
Empat lelaki ditahan disyaki ceroboh Pusat Hidrografi Nasional
Empat lelaki warga asing ditahan kerana disyaki menceroboh kawasan pintu utama Pusat Hidrografi Nasional (PHN) di Pulau Indah, Klang dekat sini pada Ahad lepas.
Pesawat tentera AS terhempas
Sebuah pesawat tentera Amerika Syarikat terhempas berhampiran Albuquerque Sunport pada Selasa.
Pesawah hadapi 10 tuduhan rogol, liwat anak jiran
Seorang pesawah didakwa di Mahkamah Sesyen Butterworth atas 10 pertuduhan melakukan persetubuhan luar tabii dan merogol seorang remaja perempuan berusia 15 tahun yang juga anak jirannya, bulan ini.
Pulau Pinang mohon kaji semula sistem pengagihan cukai kepada negeri
Pulau Pinang memohon Kerajaan Persekutuan mengkaji semula sistem pengagihan cukai kepada negeri dengan mengembalikan 20 peratus daripada wang cukai yang dikutip daripada negeri berkenaan.
Kes saman Muhyiddin Yassin terhadap Puad Zarkashi selesai secara baik
Kes saman fitnah difailkan Muhyiddin terhadap Puad Zarkashi berhubung diselesaikan secara baik di Mahkamah Tinggi hari ini.
Parti politik India perhebat dekati pengundi, bagi pusingan pertama pilihan raya kebangsaan
Modi berkata kerajaannya terus berusaha untuk pembangunan ekonomi wilayah timur laut itu.
Modi dijangka kekal perdana menteri India
Ia merupakan pilihan raya terbesar di dunia dengan hampir 1 bilion rakyat layak mengundi.
Pesuruhjaya Tinggi India galak diaspora ambil bahagian dalam kempen Chalo India
Diaspora India di Malaysia digalakkan untuk menyertai kempen Chalo India yang dilancarkan oleh Perdana Menteri India, Narendra Modi pada Khamis.
Mahkamah India benar penganut Hindu 'ceroboh' masjid
Masjid Gyanvapi merupakan salah sebuah tempat ibadat Muslim yang dituntut nasionalis Hindu selama beberapa dekad.
Kerajaan akan kaji harga beras putih tempatan - Mohamad Sabu
Kerajaan akan mengkaji harga beras putih tempatan (BPT) yang ditetapkan pada RM2.60 sejak tahun 2008.
Kesatuan Afrika jadi ahli tetap G20 - Modi
G20 bersetuju bahawa Kesatuan Afrika (AU) akan menyertai kumpulan kuasa ekonomi terkemuka itu, Perdana Menteri India Narendra Modi.
PM Modi arah pegawai tidak bincang kemungkinan tukar nama India
Bharat ialah India dalam bahasa Hindi, satu daripada bahasa rasmi negara itu selain bahasa Inggeris.
Putin tidak hadir sidang kemuncak G20 di New Delhi
Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin tidak menghadiri sidang kemuncak G20 yang dihoskan oleh kerajaan India di New Delhi pada September.
Misi bulan India mulakan penerokaan bulan
Perayau (rover) misi bulan C India keluar dari pendaratannya dan bergerak merentasi debu bulan buat kali pertama, umum agensi angkasa negara itu pada Khamis.
Selebriti terkenal India ucap tahniah atas kejayaan misi Chandrayaan-3
Susulan kejayaan kapal angkasa milik India menjadi negara pertama mendaratkan kapal angkasa di kutub selatan bulan hari ini, sebilangan besar selebriti dari India mengucapkan tahniah.