India election: what issues and parties are challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP?

A coalition of over a dozen opposition parties, dubbed the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), led by the Congress party, hopes to deny Modi a third consecutive term.

Here are some key things to know about the candidates, the parties and the issues in this election.

The BJP rose to power in 2014, and now rules with a coalition, the National Democratic Alliance. Modi enjoys widespread support among India’s Hindu majority, which accounts for 80 per cent of the population.

Modi’s Hindu nationalist policies have “appealed to a large segment since India has steadily tilted to the majoritarian right in the past decade”, said Ronojoy Sen, senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s South Asian Studies programme

But it was a “well oiled and funded party machinery” that played up his achievements to voters, he said.

“In many ways, this election is a referendum on Modi’s performance during his 10 years in office,” said Niranjan Sahoo, a senior fellow at Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

“This is an election which will indicate whether he has been able to deliver on the many promises he has made to the Indian public since 2014.”

A major issue headlining this election is the BJP’s struggles with high levels of unemployment.

Despite being the fastest growing economy in the world, some major studies and surveys have showed higher unemployment, especially among India’s educated youth, Sahoo said.

At the end of last year, unemployment among young people aged 20 to 24 stood at 44.9 per cent, according to India’s National Sample Survey.

“This is a major issue that Modi’s government has struggled to address in the last 10 years … the economy is growing at a very impressive rate, but it’s not