Indians vote Thursday in the worlds biggest-ever democratic elections, beginning a month of polling widely expected to leave this South Asian giant with a shaky coalition government as it deals with the global economic slump. In a nation of nearly 1.2 billion people long accustomed to divisions _ of region, religion and caste _ there has been little in the campaign to knit the country together.
``A poll of pitches and promises, but no national issues that connect, lamented the Times of India newspaper in its front page headline two days before the election. The Thursday vote is the first of five phases that will span a month, in which some 714 million people _ more than twice the population of the United States _ will be eligible to cast ballots. Results of the massive election, which will use more than 1.3 million electronic voting machines in 828,804 polling stations, are expected May 16.
But polls indicate neither the governing Congress party nor the main opposition, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, will win enough seats in the 543-seat lower house of Parliament to rule on their own. Instead, whoever gets the most votes will likely have to cobble together a coalition out of dozens of smaller parties, many focused on single, regional issues.
Both major parties were already weakened going into the polls. Congress, which is ending a five-year stint in power, has seen its main achievement _ Indias spectacular economic growth, which has averaged more than 8 percent in recent years _ hit by the global economic crisis.
It has also faced severe criticism for the bungled handling of the Mumbai terror attack in November, when 10 gunmen laid siege to the city for three days, killing 164 people. The BJP has been hampered by an aging, fractured leadership and accusations that it has stoked tensions between Indias Hindu majority and large Muslim minority.
But ahead of the elections neither party has done much to boost its cause. Their candidates for prime minister, Congress Manmohan Singh, 76, and the BJPs L.K. Advani, 81, have spent much of their time attacking each other as being too old and weak for the top job. Neither side has even come up with the snappy political slogans that elections here normally generate.
Analysts say the leading politicians appear out of touch with most people. ``The issues are there, the economy is a big issue, but the parties are not addressing them, said Mahesh Rangarajan, a political analyst in New Delhi. ``There is a paucity of ideas ... The national leaders are cut off from the ground, from the people.
Voters seemed to agree. ``Development is the key issue for us, said Iftikhar Ahmad, 22, a student from Patna, the capital of the north Indian state of Bihar _ one of the countrys most underdeveloped regions. ``We want our leaders to provide us with roads, bridges, good schools and hospitals equipped with lifesaving medicines and machines, he said.
This has opened the door for regional parties focused on local issues or caste politics to claim some of the support traditionally given to the two national parties. Several have banded together to form an alliance, known as the ``Third Front, trying to position itself as an alternative. Among them is a regional party headed by a powerful low-caste politician named Mayawati.
Mayawati, who goes by one name, has made clear her ambition to be Indias next prime minister and her Bahujan Samaj Party has emerged as a major force in Indian politics, winning control of Uttar Pradesh, Indias most populousAP Mayawati is a Dalit, or ``untouchable, the social outcasts at the bottom of the caste system.
While caste discrimination has been outlawed for more than a half-century, and a quota system was established with the aim of giving Dalits a fair share of government jobs and places in schools, most remain almost destitute, kept down by ancient prejudice and caste-based politics. Mayawati rose to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2007, forming a powerful alliance of Dalits and high-caste Hindu Brahmins.
Comments
Comments are closed.