New Delhi: The elections for the 18th Lok Sabha, spanning seven phases between April 19 and June 1, 2024 amid a scorching heatwave, is finally coming to a close today, as the ballots are counted. The Election Commission of India data puts the Bharatiya Janata Party leading in 246 seats, the Congress in 96, Samajwadi Party in 33, Trinamool Congress in 29, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 21, Telugu Desam Party in 16. This is as of 4 pm. In terms of alliances, the BJP’s National Democratic Alliance is leading in 293 seats, and the opposition INDIA bloc in 229.
Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra appear to be the states where the INDIA bloc has made gains. In Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, the BJP’s grip remains.
These number suggest that while the National Democratic Alliance is still on its way to form the government, the BJP on its own does not have a majority.
Crucially, the elections were held only in 542 constituencies out of 543, as the BJP candidate was declared a winner in Surat, Gujarat after the nomination papers of his Congress rival was rejected, while the remaining candidates in the fray withdrew on BJP’s request.
The campaign
The campaign was marked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s incessant spiel against the Congress and his claim that the party proposed to “distribute wealth of the Hindus” among those “have more children”. At the same time, the BJP’s social media handles played out brazenly Islamophobic videos, only to eventually withdraw them in days after complaints to the Election Commission of India.
Perhaps, never in the history of India’s general elections have the ruling party’s leaders been so vituperative as the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls; leading such a campaign was none other than the prime minister himself. Midway through the canvassing that the BJP began by speaking about its dream of turning India into a developed nation by 2047 and making the Indian economy as the third largest in the world by 2029, the saffron party changed gears and lapsed into its time-tested political agenda of striking a divide between Indian Hindus and Muslims.
The elections began on a rather distasteful note. Two chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, days ahead of polling, on charges of corruption. The principal opposition party Congress’s bank accounts were frozen right before it launched its campaign.
In contrast, the opposition, which came together as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance despite multiple differences, largely stuck to material issues of people like unemployment, price rise, and alleged attacks on the Indian democratic credentials and the Constitution by the Modi government.
No level playing field
A palpable lack of level-playing field will mark the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the opposition no match to the resourceful and corporate-supported BJP. Yet, across vast stretches of the country, the noise of resentment and anger among voters against the Modi government’s failures resonated on the ground, with little or no help from the opposition. The brewing anti-incumbency against the Modi government showed itself much more clearly than before, although that still may not guarantee BJP’s defeat because of its unparalleled dominance in the northern states.
The 2024 Lok Sabha elections were held amidst an environment of doubts among voters. The EVMs are not seen as the most-efficient method of voting, as many have raised questions about the possibility of them being hacked or rigged. While there is very little evidence to support such a claim, the Election Commission of India added to the fear of a partisan election process by refusing to release important polling data on time and ignoring concerns raised around the BJP’s Islamophobic campaign.
By choosing not to address any of these issues in the public, the ECI only raised temperatures in an already polarised political environment.
Multiple exit polls have predicted another term for Narendra Modi, with an absolute majority. The opposition, on the other hand, has questioned their credibility, and speculated that it should win 295 seats.
In a matter of a few hours, the results of one of the longest elections will be declared. Irrespective of the outcome, the alarm bells that these elections have set ringing will remain a worry for the Indian democracy.
