Here are some key issues the winning party, or coalition, will need to tackle in office.
India’s economy is expected to have grown by about 8 percent in the last fiscal year, one of the fastest rates among major economies, but voters have pointed to disparities on the ground, with growth more visible in cities than in the vast hinterland.
The economy has jumped five places to be the fifth-largest in the world in the past decade under Modi and he has said he will lift it to the third position if elected. But the country’s per-capita income still remains the lowest among G20 nations.
Nevertheless, S&P Global Ratings in late May raised India’s sovereign rating outlook to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’ while retaining the rating at ‘BBB-’, saying the country’s robust economic expansion was having a constructive impact on its credit metrics.
Annual retail inflation (INCPIY=ECI) in April stood at 4.83 percent, slightly lower than March, but still above the central bank’s 4 percent target.
Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, was an annual 8.70 percent in April, compared with a 8.52 percent rise in the previous month. Food inflation has been at more than 8 percent year-on-year since November 2023.
Countering the steep increase in food prices has been one of the key campaign planks of the main opposition Congress party, which has promised several cash handouts to alleviate the situation.
Modi has meanwhile banned exports of wheat, rice and onions to contain domestic inflation.
Unemployment in India has also been one of the main issues in the campaign with Congress accusing the Modi government of doing little to provide jobs for the country’s youth.
The unemployment rate in India rose to 8.1 percent in April from 7.4 percent in March, according to the private think-tank Center for Monitoring Indian Economy.
Government estimates for the latest January-March quarter show that the urban unemployment rate in the 15-29 age group ticked higher to 17 percent from 16.5 percent in the prior quarter.
Overall, urban unemployment rate in the January-March quarter stood at 6.7 percent, compared to 6.5 percent in the previous quarter, according to government data.
The Indian government does not release quarterly unemployment figures for rural India.
India’s rising world stature and assertive foreign policy have been touted as major recent achievements by Modi’s administration.
A key diplomatic strain, however, remains with China which was spurred by a 2020 border clash that left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead. Modi said last month the countries should address the “prolonged situation” on their border.
Modi’s government has been trying to attract foreign companies to diversify supply chains beyond China.
Relations with Canada have also been strained in recent months after Ottawa and Washington accused an Indian official of directing the plot in the attempted murder of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist and dual citizen of the United States and Canada.
In May, Canadian police arrested and charged three Indian men with the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year and said they were probing whether the men had ties to the Indian government
An industry lobby group earlier this year called for a tax exemption limit for individuals to be increased and linked with inflation to help boost consumption.
The Confederation of Indian Industry also asked that the government review its capital gains tax structure by bringing consistency in tax rates for different asset classes such as debt, equity and immovable assets.
Stagnant farm income is a major sign of widening inequality between urban and rural India that has led to widespread protests. The BJP had promised to double farm income by 2022 in its manifesto for the last election, but has failed to do so.
Despite that, Modi has set a new goal to lift rural per-capita income by 50 percent by 2030 but farmers in the hinterland remain skeptical of such plans, Reuters reported earlier.
In February, a BJP spokesperson told Reuters that Modi could make labor reforms a priority if he wins the general election.
New labor codes, which would make it easier for firms to hire and fire workers and impose operating restrictions on unions, were approved by parliament in 2020, but they have yet to be implemented following resistance from workers and states.
The new government may also continue to delay taking on land reforms as any such moves would be contentious and lead to losses in state elections later this year.
In his first term as prime minister, Modi tried to push through legislation that would have made it easier to buy land for industrial corridors, rural housing and electrification, and for defense purposes. However, the plan was put on the backburner amid stiff resistance from the opposition.
It will likely have to ask for funding again to cover salaries up to June, the document, released ahead of the WHO’s annual meeting in Geneva this week, said
The winners of India’s April 19-June 1 general election are expected to form a new government by the middle of June after votes are counted on June 4. Analysts largely expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to win a third straight term, as predicted by opinion polls before voting began.
Vote counting is decentralized and done simultaneously at counting stations in each of the 543 constituencies around the country.
Counting begins at 8 am (0000 GMT) on June 4 with the tallying of postal ballots that only select groups can use, including people with disabilities, or those involved in essential services including security forces and some government officials.
After paper ballots, votes recorded in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) are counted, which India has used since 2000, moving away from paper ballots for national and state elections.
Along with the electronic record of each vote cast through the EVM, a corresponding paper slip is also produced, which is visible to the voter, and then stored in a sealed box.
The poll watchdog, the Election Commission of India (ECI), counts and verifies these paper slips against electronic votes at five randomly selected polling stations — drawn by lots — in different segments of each constituency.
While critics and some members of civil society, including some political parties, want verification to be done at more booths to increase transparency, the Supreme Court has declined to order any change in the vote-counting process.
The ECI has dismissed allegations that EVMs can be tampered, calling them foolproof
Results are announced for each constituency as soon as counting is completed. India follows the first-past-the-post system, under which a candidate with the highest number of votes wins, regardless of garnering a majority or not.
Result trends generally become clear by the afternoon of counting day and are flashed on television news networks. The official count from the ECI can come hours later.
After the ECI announces the results for all 543 seats, the president invites the leader of the party, or an alliance, which has more than half the seats to form the government.
The party or coalition with 272 or more seats then chooses a prime minister to lead the government.
In the 2019 elections, Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won 303 seats and its National Democratic Alliance partners secured about 50 more. Meanwhile, the main opposition Congress won just 52 seats, with another 91 seats going to its allies.
If no political party or alliance gets a simple majority, leading to what is called a “hung house,” the president asks the party with the largest number of seats to form a government, and prove a majority on the floor of the house later.
A new Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, has to be in place before its current term ends on June 16.
Opinion polls conducted before voting began on April 19 projected an easy victory for Modi for a rare third consecutive term, but a lower voter turnout, and a more unified opposition compared to 2019 have emerged as surprise challenges for him. Most analysts however say he is still likely to win.
