Nearly a billion Indians head to the polls as six-week election gets under way
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Amid the rows of brightly coloured T-shirts, flags and other election-themed knick-knacks on display at New Delhi’s Sadar Bazaar, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) merchandise stands out from the rest.
The bustling market is a one-stop shop for political paraphernalia and, with the first round of six weeks of voting opening on Friday, shopkeepers say their best-selling items are anything linked to longtime prime minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi.
“The preference for merchandise featuring Modi’s face is clear - nearly every BJP item is expected to bear his image,” said shopkeeper Tausif Khan.
Among the other most-wanted BJP trinkets are T-shirts, masks, and saffron caps bearing the messages “Ab Ki Baar 400 Par” (This time over 400 seats), a reference to the party’s parliamentary target this election, or “NaMo Again” - Mr Modi’s nickname.
It is a sign of the BJP’s dominance over the political landscape in the world’s most populous country - and the almost cult-of-personality-like reverence afforded to its leader Mr Modi.
Ever since he swept to power in 2014, the former chief minister of Gujarat has deepened his sway over Indian politics and culture, reshaping the constitutionally secular country around a controversial Right-wing nationalist agenda catering to the Hindu majority.
Critics have raised concerns about Mr Modi’s authoritarian tendencies, with crackdowns on opposition and civil society voices increasingly common.
However, his strategy has paid off: BJP won a resounding majority again in 2019 and now controls more than half of India’s states.
WhatsApp campaigning
The party is widely expected to win this year’s elections, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to secure a third consecutive five-year term.
Behind that success is the formidable electoral machine built by the BJP, which with an estimated 180 million members is thought to be the largest political party in the world.
Structured into a network of state, district and local units, the party mobilises vast armies of volunteers and grassroots activists, some of whom may target as few as 30 voters.
With a BJP representative on practically every street in many regions, it is able to conduct relentless door-to-door canvassing and uses social media such as WhatsApp groups to disseminate messages among specific communities.
To reach nearly a billion voters across three million square metres of land - from the world’s highest polling booth 15,256ft (4,650m) in the Himalayan mountains to a polling station in a remote village along a river on the Bangladeshi border - the BJP knows that every little counts.
Drugs and freebies
In Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state with over 200 million residents and 80 parliamentary seats, BJP activist Ajay Gupta began his day of campaigning at 7am on Thursday.
Wearing bright saffron-coloured attire, including an orange muffler featuring the party logo - a Hindu lotus to symbolise peace and prosperity - he spends the morning going door to door in the Railway Road neighbourhood in the city of Meerut.
Whenever someone answers his knock, he politely asks them to support Mr Modi and gives them a BJP flag.
“We enter every home and seek votes for Modi,” he said.
Mr Gupta’s target from his bosses is to visit around 100 households before 10am. “We don’t want to disturb people after they’ve left for work,” he added.
After completing his morning campaigning, Mr Gupta meets with his colleagues at a street corner to review the list for the next day.
In the afternoon, he visits the party office to provide an update to his seniors, which is then passed up the chain.
“We are straightforward in our assessment. We inform booth officers how many will vote for us and how many may be against us,” he said. “The feedback is shared in WhatsApp groups connected with top leadership nationwide.”
However, that electoral machine is not without its flaws.
A record amount of bribes, ranging from cash and precious metals to alcohol and drugs worth more than £440 million, have been seized in the run-up to the election, it emerged this week.
The Election Commission of India said on Monday that the highest total amounts changed hands in two BJP-ruled states.
Gujarat - Mr Modi’s home state - was top for seizures of drugs used as election bribes, while Rajasthan was top of the list for “freebies” promised to voters in exchange for their support.
‘Everyone voting for Modi’
The relationship between the BJP and leading business figures such as billionaires like Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani has also faced criticism.
The party’s use of opaque campaign finance mechanisms, such as electoral bonds, was also recently deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court for their lack of transparency.
On the streets, however, BJP’s activist volunteers are confident none of that will make a difference to the final result.
“It’s partly because [Mr Modi] has changed millions of lives by his welfare schemes like free toilets and subsidised gas connections, and at the same time he is taking care of the religious aspirations of Hindus,” said Mr Gupta.
“Our assessment after an extended door-to-door campaign is that everyone is voting for Modi.”
