Elections in India

Elections in India 2019

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India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India which defines the power distribution between the union, or central, government and the states.

The President of India is the ceremonial leader who is elected indirectly for a five-year term by an electoral comprising members of national and state legislatures. The Prime Minister of India is the head of the government and exercises most executive power.Appointed by the president,the prime minister is by convention supported by the party or political alliance having a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha or lower house of parliament.

The two alliances are NDA National Democratic Alliances Leader-Narendra Modi

UPA United Progressive Alliance - Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Wayanad constituency in Kerala as well as the Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Narendra Modi is contesting from Varanasi constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi is not sure about winning in Amethi that was why he also decided to contest from Wayanad which was a sure win for the Congress. The LDF Left Democratic Front is contesting against the congress in Kerala. Even BJP is contesting but that cannot be told in this article as the presence of BJP in Kerala is not great.

Narendra Modi leader of NDA

Rahul Gandhi leader of UPA

Over view

On 12 January 2019, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi launched the Bharatiya Janata Party's election campaign, which sought a second term in government. Commentators have suggested that Modi and BJP will base their campaign on Hindu nationalism, relative to their 2014 campaign, which had emphasised job creation and economic development.

On the same day, both Mayawati (president of the Bahujan Samaj Party) and Akhilesh Yadav (president of the Samajwadi Party) announced an alliance to contest 76 seats out of the 80 in Uttar Pradesh and the alliance will not fight in Amethi and Rae Bareli as they are represented by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. The alliance did not include Congress, which Mayawati explained: "Including Congress in the alliance will hurt SP-BSP prospects as Congress's votes do not get transferred." The alliance was the second of its kind with a similar coalition formed 25 years ago in 1993.

Among the interventions by the EC was a ban on the use of images of Pulwama martyrs. Later, CEO Teeka Ram Meena put a ban on the use of issues related to the Sabarimala temple during the poll campaign.

Issues

A number of issues are expected to be of importance in this election. These include the country's recent conflict with Pakistan,The 2017 China India border standoff or Doklam standoff, Losing the neighbourhood ,UN report shows PM Modi's foreign tours a failure, Aadhaar, The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2014, SC/ST Act amendment, 123rd Amendment) Bill, 2018 that seeks to provide constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC),Cow protection-related violence in India ,Ghar wapsi campaigns, Entry of women to Sabarimala, Ram temple, Black Money , Bank Fraud Cases, Disinvestment of Public Sector Units, Electoral bond, Failure of Schemes: Namami Gange mission , Swach Bharat, Adopt a Heritage scheme , GDP, Total liabilities, Implementation of demonetisation, Languages, Modi's promise of Rs 15 lakh to every Indian NPAs ,Price Rise, Privatisation, Uniform civil code, unemployment, and national security.

Institutional Underlining

Opposition parties have claimed that the NDA government is destroying democratic institutions and processes. The judiciary, parliament, media, Reserve Bank of India, Central Bureau of Investigation, Right to Information Act are claimed to have been undermined by the government. Opposition parties have campaigned heavily on this issue.

In response, Modi termed the allegations "a big joke", commenting that Congress and the communists had themselves undermined institutions including the police, CBI and the CAG, and cited the murder of BJP activists in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.

Citizenship amendment bill 2016

The citizenship amendment bill brought to parliament plans to allow persecuted minorities of the countries born due to partition of British India (such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan) into Indian citizenship. The bill has led to political backlash in Assam and caused unrest in other parts of India's northeast, with protests by ethnic Assamese groups. On 7 January 2019, 70 organisations across Assam observed "Disgust Day" and protested the bill. On 29 January 2019, 10 Northeast India political parties and National Democratic Alliance ally Janata Dal (United) met in Assam and decided to oppose the bill.

On 8 February 2019, Modi began a visit to three northeast states. To protest against the bill, the All Assam Students Union raised slogans and raised black flags to prime minister Narendra Modi in Guwahati. Due to protests, restrictions on assembly were imposed in Guwahati under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Asom Gana Parishad staged a march with torches. In March 2019, the Asom Gana Parishad returned to the BJP-led NDA and NEDA alliances.

National security

Further information: India–Pakistan border skirmishes (2019) and 2019 Balakot airstrike

The country's ongoing conflict with Pakistan is predicted by CNN to be a significant factor in this election. In response to the 2019 Pulwama attack, the Indian Air Force conducted airstrikes inside Pakistan — for the first time since 1971.

The opposition accused Modi of politicising the army, whilst the BJP countered the accusation, alleging they were chipping away at the morale of India's armed forces.

Rafale deal

Opposition parties have alleged price escalations and corporate favouritism in Rafale aircraft deal. The NDA government has denied the allegations.

The Supreme Court has dismissed public interest litigations on the Rafale deal and said that the processes were followed without any commercial favouritism to industrialist Anil Ambani, one of the beneficiaries of the deal. However the judgement was riddled with factual errors about a nonexistent Comptroller and Auditor General report on the audit of the Rafale deal and a nonexistent report being examined by the Public Accounts Committee. Congress , while not being a petitioner, has alleged that the NDA government misled the Supreme Court and raised questions about existence of the CAG report. Government has claimed that it did not mislead the Supreme Court but the Supreme Court misinterpreted statements made by government in sealed cover submitted by it. The government has asked the Supreme Court to correct the error in its judgement. A review petition on the Rafale deal deal judgement has been filed by the original petitioners on 2 January 2019. The Aam Aadmi Party member of parliament moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of the verdict on 14 January 2019. Congress has been demanding a joint parliamentary committee to investigate the Rafale deal.

Congress has heavily attacked by prime minister Narendra Modi and NDA government on this issue in run up to the general election.

After fresh revelations in The Hindu, based on an official document about defence ministry protesting the prime minister`s role in conducting parallel negotiations and undermining the Rafale negotiations, the Congress launched fresh attacks on prime minister Narendra Modi. The defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman rejected all fresh claims made by Congress. In another leaked document the former defence minister Manohar Parrikar replied to defence ministry note as over-reaction. More questions were raised by Congress and Jammu & Kashmir National Conference about the former minister's reply to the defence ministry note. Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party demanded a raid by the Central Bureau of Investigation on the Prime Minister's office in the light of fresh leaks. Aam Aadmi Party also lodged a police compliant against the prime minister Narendra Modi.

Unemployment

As of at least 7 February 2019, the NDA government denied the existence of any job crisis. Prime minister Narendra Modi claimed that jobs are not lacking but data on jobs has been lacking. Government has delayed releasing of the official report on unemployment.

Two government officials, including the acting chairperson of National Statistical Commission, resigned, protesting the withholding of the Annual Survey on Employment and Unemployment for the year 2017–18. A leaked version of the report showed unemployment rate in India at a 45-year high during 2017–2018. The government has claimed that the report was not final.

Agarian Protests

Within the last few years, the agrarian situation has deteriorated in the country.

The government however, in the Union Budget of 2019 announced a relief for small farmers by directly depositing ₹6000 to their accounts in three installments. The opposition accused this as being an attempt to lure voters.

Author: Rodger Bloor (Gurunithyan Rahul)